Fright Fest
by Pinkchick
Summary: COMPLETE! All Hallow's Eve October 31, 1703 is where this haunting begins at the Xavier Institue. The end is here. Did everyone survive? All questions answered! Please R&R!
1. Prologue

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Prologue:

Xavier Institute October 31, 1703

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It was a dark All Hallow's Eve night at the Xavier estate. The only lanterns that flickered with light were the ones in the family room and two bedroom lights. The family living there was wealthy, though the head of the house still in silent mourning. William Jonathan Xavier was a widowed man left alone to take care of his five young children; the youngest being only ten years of age. William's wife had passed away some ten years ago, after giving birth to their youngest daughter. The older children barely remembered her at all. He had always been a fond believer of faith, but after his wife had died, he had lost all that faith. Believing once that spirits watched over you, All Hallow's Eve was his favorite night of the year. After the tragedy though, he preached to his children never to believe in spirits, both good and bad. Unfortunately for William, all of his children, save for his youngest child, believed in spirits. 

"Katherine, you don't really believe in those dead spirits now do you?" William asked the young girl sitting in front of him. He had light brown hair and a moustache. The girl was of the age of ten with exuberant brown curls strung to her head and vibrant blue eyes. She was usually a happy girl, with a spirited mind and an ambitious future. 

"Of course not, father," Katherine responded. "It's not like their any form of reality. Hath you taught thee of life and of being logical?" Katherine adjusted her long dress and her broach which was given to her by her father. It belonged to her mother. "Besides, father, evil spirits on All Hallow's Eve are things that give you a fright. I am one person that they shall not scare!"

William Xavier smiled at his youngest daughter. He certainly taught her to be very logical with the world, or everyone would eat her up alive. Being wealthy also came as a blessing to them. William would make sure that she had a very radiant future along with his other two daughters, while his two sons would maintain the family name. 

As William and his daughter continued to sit in the elegantly styled family room of the enormous manor that was built by his father, the sky became alive with lightning. A minute later two young girls a little older than Katherine came bounding into the room. The oldest having long curly red hair and the other dark brown hair. Both with an irritated smiled on their faces. William looked at them with concern. "Genevieve, Marie, what is troubling you?" he asked.

"Father, would you be kind enough to tell Curtis and Skyler to stop trying to scare us?" Genevieve asked of her father. Marie gave him a pleading look. 

"They have been bothering us all night," Marie put in. 

"Alright girls, I'll have a talk with your brothers," William told his daughters. Before he could move from the room, two boys emerged from the doorway in silk sheets entangled around their bodies. They came up behind the girls and made an eerie noise that made Marie and Genevieve jump from their positions and scream. 

The boys uncloaked themselves and fell into a heap of laughter on the floor. The slightly older boy had short brown hair and bright blue eyes, much like Katherine's. The younger brother had darker hair, almost black. He was also a couple of inches shorter. They finally ceased their laughs as they looked upon the stern glare of their father. 

"Skyler, Curtis," William called their names as he narrowed his eyes. "How many times must I tell you that this evil spirit nonsense must stop?" 

The two boys did not respond but just stared at their father while their two sisters tried to hide a smile. "We are sorry, father," Skyler replied with a serious tone in his voice. 

William rubbed at his temples. "What am I to do with you? Just go upstairs and I shall have a talk with you in a minute." 

Skyler and Curtis just nodded their heads. They bid a goodnight to their father and Katherine and walked out of the room. Genevieve and Marie smiled at their father and waved to their sister. "Good night Katherine," they both chorused. Katherine waved back as she watched her father and sisters' retreating backs. 

Katherine peered up so her head was looking at the window and outside at the dark night sky. A storm was brewing outside as she got up to close the window. Before she could get to the window, a mighty gust pushed passed Katherine and into the room, blowing the lanterns off of the table and onto the floor. The room became pitch dark. 

Katherine hugged herself in fear as another gust of wind wrapped around her body. Katherine turned her head the way the wind was blowing and felt the chill of the wind wrap around her neck as it pressed against her ear and whispered, "The spirits of All Hallow's Eve have come to haunt you. Do you know what happens to non believers, my dear?" 

Katherine's face, although the dark room hid it, turned deathly white. She tried to stutter the answer, but to no avail. The wind seemed to be strangling her. Katherine felt a tug on her throat as if another spirit - a kinder one - was coming to her rescue. Katherine felt a rush of air for a moment before her throat tightened again. The evil spirit had won the fight. She let out a piercing scream before the family room hovered in silence and was brightened by some candle lights. 

William Xavier, having heard his daughter's muffled scream from upstairs, ran into the family room as quickly as possible. To his horror, he found Katherine slumped onto the floor with her eyes wide open in fear, dead. William, still in utter shock, ran over to her and held her in his arms. Unshed tears formed in his eyes as he looked up at the wall in front of him. There, in red blood written on the wall, there was a message: **Non believers die along with their spirits...**


	2. Chapter One

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Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own them! They belong to Marvel and Kid's WB. 

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Author's Notes: Hey people! Happy Halloween! So I actually thought of this story about a week ago but realized I wouldn't be able to finish writing it all by today…so I'm posting the prologue and the first chapter on Halloween, but it will continue on, even if it won't be October! I got my inspiration from many things and I'll tell you about that later because I think I'll wreck it for anyone who actually knows about what I'm talking about! Again, I'll say later…lol! For now, please Read, Review, and most of all, *ENJOY!* Now on with the show…………… 

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Fright Fest

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By: pinkchick

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Chapter 1

Xavier Institute October 31, 2003

"Alright! It's time for some Halloveen movies!" Kurt Wagner exclaimed with enthusiasm as he jumped around the living room and grabbed the remote from beside the television. Kitty Pryde looked at him from the top of her magazine and rolled her bubbly blue eyes in annoyance. Kurt was usually labeled as the jokester of the house and sometimes it was a good thing; but as of right now, Kitty was just about fed up with him. 

"Kurt, there's, like, nothing special about Halloween! All it does is make good profit to candy stores and scares little kids off," Kitty stated as she went back to reading her magazine. 

"Zat's vat you think," Kurt replied pointedly, "but Halloveen is actually a very complicated holiday." 

"Oh yeah! You should know there's really no such thing as evil spirits. So what's, like, so complicated about it?" Kitty asked, eyeing him suspiciously. 

Kurt smiled, revealing two fanged teeth that only a blue fuzz ball can produce and jumped into the seat next to Kitty. Flipping on the TV with the remote in his three fingered hand, he sighed happily. "You see, it's very complicated to watch all the movies zey make in one month."

Kitty rolled her eyes again and brushed herself off as she got up off of the couch. "You are, like, so lame! I still think Halloween's a stupid holiday." 

Kitty looked at the TV and Kurt again and marched out of the room. Kurt shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the bowl of chips from the table in front of him. "Well, I zink Halloveen is ze coolest holiday." 

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Rogue had just finished her homework for that day and had just associated herself onto the chair in the kitchen when Kitty walked into the kitchen with an irritated expression on her face. Rogue followed her friend and fellow housemate with her eyes as Kitty scoffed and pulled out a chair and sat in it. She ripped out her magazine as if she were about to strangle it and started reading where she had left off. 

Rogue looked at Kitty and back at the kitchen door in which she had just come through. She had known Kitty for awhile and the girl was usually full of energy and perkiness; this was certainly not a mood she usually saw her in. Rogue eyed her for a couple of more minutes before she started to acknowledge Kitty of her presence. 

"What happened t'ya?" Rogue asked slowly. Kitty muttered something under her breath and Rogue leaned in closer to hear what she had said. She knocked on the table as if to bring Kitty out of her imaginary world. 

"What was that, Kitty? Ah'm kinda hard of hearin', so if ya wouldn't mahnd speakin' up a little!" Rogue exclaimed. 

Kitty looked up from her magazine and flushed from embarrassment. She closed her magazine and spoke louder this time. "I said, Kurt's, like, getting on my last nerve with all this Halloween crap." 

"Ya know the elf doesn't mean no harm," Rogue replied. 

"Yeah," Kitty said, pointing her index finger at Rogue, "you try sitting with him in one of his wacky Halloween moods."

"Whatever!" Rogue responded. 

"I just, like, don't see the big deal about Halloween that's all," Kitty perked up. "If you ask me, it like, gives me the creeps." 

"Ah guess it's just tha fact that everyone gets free candy," Rogue put in. She played around with her glove before looking at Kitty again. "So, ah guess yo' not goin' to tha Halloween dance this Friday?" 

Kitty shivered openly. "Oh, ick, never! Are you?" 

"Maybe," Rogue answered.

"Really?" Kitty asked, surprise in her voice. Rogue was never the one to go out to a dance, especially one involving costumes.

"Yeah, in another lahftahm." 

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"Bobby!" Amara cried out in horror as a fake bloodied skeletal hand came out and grasped her. Amara jumped back and crossed her arms over her shoulders. Bobby Drake came out of the closet he had been hiding in and pulled out the fake hands. The young teen was usually known as the prankster, and he would excessively do it during the month of October. Right now, Amara wasn't pleased. 

"Hey!" Bobby exclaimed. "You were supposed to scream." 

"Get out!" Amara shouted as she pointed to the doorway of the room. "Try doing something better with your time." 

"Like what?" 

"Setting up candy for all those little kids." 

"Yeah, like anyone would actually come to the mansion after they found out about us, Amara," Bobby said. "Especially little kids." 

Amara sighed and placed her fingers on her temples. "Bobby, I have a lot of homework…so I really don't care what you do with your time." 

"Fine, I'll just go carve some pumpkins," Bobby said as Amara dragged him out of the door and into the hallway. "This is gonna be the most boring Halloween in all history."

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All the students sat in the planning room as the four adults of the mansion stood before them. Professor Xavier, hands placed calmly in front of him, looked upon the five students standing before him. He didn't want to say what he was about to, but he feared he had no choice. The professor was a usually calm man, but one of his worst fears was about to come true. He was to leave his students, all of them, alone. Alone, on Halloween.

"I am afraid something has come up," he told them. 

"Like what?" Scott Summers asked, standing up. 

"I am afraid that isn't any of your concern, Scott," the professor replied. Scott sat down at the gesture from the professor. The professor gave a weak smile. He knew he could at least count on some of his students to be responsible. He looked at the doorway. It was the other students that Xavier was worried about. 

Logan crossed his arms and twitched his lips. "What Charles here is tryin' ta say is that we have to go away. All four of us." He pointed towards himself, Storm, Beast, and the professor. 

"For how long?" Jean Grey asked. She was sitting on the couch next to Scott, whom she officially started dating awhile ago. As one of the eldest students at the mansion, she also took second in command of the group in situations such as this one. 

Professor Xavier sighed. "Just for the weekend. The reason I am telling you five is because I need you to look after the others in our absence." 

"No problem," Kurt replied happily.

"He also means ya can't go messin' around either, elf," Logan replied gruffly. Kurt felt himself shrink down to size from Logan's hard stare. The elder man was getting used to the student's mischief's, but he didn't want them to get in any trouble while no adult was around. He remembered what happened last time; they all had thrown a party behind Jean and Scott's backs. He tried to promise himself that that wouldn't happen again. 

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The four adults had left soon after their departure announcement. The five X-men had spread the word and havoc dawned upon the house. Since the adults were gone, that meant no one was allowed out of the house until Sunday, except to go to school and back. Jean Grey sat in her room after she helped inform everyone about the sudden change in plans for the weekend. She closed her closet after looking at her Halloween costume once more. Jean and Scott had been planning on attending a party, but they obviously couldn't now. 

She sighed and slumped her tall, slender body over her bed. For some weird reason, she feared this was going to be a very long weekend. She unconsciously started to twirl her fiery red hair around her finger before she was interrupted by a hard rap on the door. Jean smiled before speaking; she didn't need her telepathy to figure out who it was. 

"Come in, Scott," she called from her seat on the bed. 

The door slowly opened to reveal a slim yet tall and muscularly built man who was around the same age as Jean. Scott Summers walked into the room with his hands in his pocket, an apparent shyness creeping over him. He ran his hand through his somewhat thick chestnut colored hair, an unconscious gesture he submissively did. 

"Hey Jean, how'd you know it was me?" he asked.

Jean shrugged but gave him an irrepressible smile. Scott smiled back at her and looked down at the floor which had suddenly become interesting. The silence in the air hung like the branch of a tree holding onto a leaf, waiting for it to fall off. Jean quirked a concerned eyebrow at him. 

"Did you need something Scott?" 

"Hm, uh no. Not really anyways," he stuttered. "So, you still mad about not going to that Halloween dance?" 

"No, it probably wouldn't have been any fun anyways," Jean replied. Scott nodded in concurrent. As of late, any mutant could not go out in public without being treated like a menace or some kind of plague that walked the earth. They would have probably crashed the party anyhow. It was thought to be much safer for all of them to stay at home. 

"Well, I guess I'll say goodnight now and see you at the danger room session tomorrow," Scott said as he turned around to make his departure. 

Jean sighed at his retreating figure. "Goodnight." Scott just couldn't give up one day of practice. She smiled as she heard the door close behind him. Some things just don't change. 

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To every student's luck, Halloween and Friday collapsed on the same day that year. As the final bell of the day rang, the students were free to go. Their homework and worries left behind at school, they all walked out with new ideas of fear. Kurt walked down the hall with his girlfriend Amanda Sefton. He felt safe being with her, since she was the only one who appreciated his 'gift'. Being that they could not leave the mansion, he had invited her over. She had willingly agreed and they were on their way out to meet Scott, who was picking them up on his way home. 

"Hey, mutie," a boy taunted at Kurt. "What're you gonna be this year? A normal person!" He laughed as he ran down the hall, making disgusted faces towards Kurt. Kurt looked down as he had been slapped in the face. How he sometimes wished to be normal. He immediately felt a tug on his arm as Kurt looked up to notice Amanda smiling at him. 

"C'mon, Kurt," she said. "Don't listen to him. We'll have a good time this year." 

"I sure hope so." Kurt mustered a smile, but to no avail. 

"We can watch scary movies!"

Kurt's features brightened at the mention of movies. "And food?" he asked, licking his lips. 

"Lots of it," Amanda stated, grabbing his arm and walking towards Scott's impatient figure. "What'd you say?"

"You're on!" 

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Rogue walked down through the sublevels of the mansion with Jean, Scott, and Kitty towards the elevator. They had just finished up a danger room session. Everyone else had dispersed from the room before Scott could finish his sentence about what they needed to improve. He didn't feel the need to intrude, after all, it was Halloween. So, being in the spirit himself, Scott cut the session short and let everyone start the holiday early. The elevator opened and the four of them stepped in. 

"Ya know what ah find weird?" Rogue asked no one in particular as the elevator started making it's way up the shaft. 

"Like, what?" Kitty asked, gazing at Rogue. 

"How is it that tha professor says that this mansion's been in tha family for hundreds of years…" Rogue started. 

"…And no paintings of his ancestors are hung around here," Jean finished for her teammate. Rogue nodded at her. Though the two girls didn't see eye to eye and had major differences, they still got along fairly well. "I know, I've been wondering that for years." 

"Well, wha is that?" Rogue questioned. Scott and Jean just shrugged at the same time in response. Kitty tilted her head and stared at the brown wall in front of her as the elevator opened and they stepped out. Kitty touched the wall as if picking up some kind of clue. "Who like, knows," she said. 

"I think it's like, actually creepy," Kitty said staring off into space. 

"Yeah, I guess it is," Jean echoed as she was left alone in the hallway with Kitty still lost in her thoughts. Jean was about to walk down the hall when Kitty's voice interrupted her mission. 

"Do you think that something happened here that the professor doesn't want us to, like, know?" Kitty questioned, breaking her trance and gazing up at Jean. 

"I don't know Kitty," Jean offered. "I really don't know."

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Three high school students pulled their bikes up in front of the front gates of the Xavier institute. They put their bikes down and took out three boxes from their backpacks and opened them up. The three boys snickered to themselves as they opened the large iron gate doors. The three of them walked all the way up the long driveway until they reached the fountain on the circular drive. They took the oval shaped objects from the boxes they carried in their hands and started throwing them at the house. 

"Take that, you freaks!" one of the boys shouted. 

Before they could completely finish their task, two boys around the same age opened the mansion's front doors and started throwing eggs at the intruders. The three boys started yelling in disgust at the two mutants standing in front of them. Bobby and Ray laughed at the boys as they started wiping off all of the egg yolk that now covered their entire bodies. They started running away from the mansion. 

Bobby and Ray gave each other high fives as they watched the three boys run away like little chickens. "Ha, that shows them!" Bobby exclaimed, throwing his fist in the air in victory. 

"You'll pay for this!" one boy called over his shoulder at Bobby and Ray.

Ray looked at their retreating figures disappearing in the dark, gray night. He pointed his finger at them and turned to Bobby. "I don't know about them. You think we should worry?" 

"Nah." Bobby shrugged as he opened the glass door behind him. "They're just a bunch of chickens." 

Ray seemed to agree with his friend as he started to follow him inside. As he looked back at the driveway where the boys had just been, he felt a gnawing feeling in his stomach. Ray felt like this was going to be a very different kind of Halloween. 

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The thunder clouds roamed over the mansion like a threat waiting to entrap the mansion in it's storm. Every person in the mansion that night sat scattered in the living room as Kurt prepared a horror movie while everyone else got themselves settled in. Kitty rolled her eyes at Kurt as he started going through the horror movie list to Amanda. She personally couldn't wait until this night was over. At school, Kitty had cringed while listening to some of the student's conversations about egging the institute and other obnoxious ideas that she did not want to deal with at the moment. 

"How about _Scream_?" Kurt suggested for the millionth time that night. 

"Kurt! Will ya just put in a movie ahlready!" Rogue shouted from the other side of the room. "Yo' drivin' meh crazy!" 

"Alright, I can take ze hint." Kurt put his hands in front of his chest for defense. Since they were safe in the house, Kurt was his usual blue self, including the tail that sagged around in the back. Everyone turned at the sound of the front door closing. A couple of minutes later, Bobby and Ray walked into the room with big smiles on their faces. 

"What are you two, like, so happy about?" Kitty asked as she swung her legs around the side of the couch she was sitting on. 

"Nothin', me and Ray here just finished giving three guys what they rightfully deserved," Bobby stated.

"What would that be?" Scott asked, a single eyebrow raised in perfect view above his ruby quartz sunglasses. "You know what the professor said about pranks…" he trailed off. 

Bobby backed away slightly but still looking in Scott's direction. "Hey, chill man! It was just for anyone who plans on messin' with the X-men! We egged them!" 

Scott shook his head and crossed his arms. If Bobby could see his eyes, he would've sworn they'd be narrowed in a deathly glare about now. To place a comparison between the Bobby, the prankster, and Scott - there would be a wide gap between the two. Scott was the typical boy scout, at least Logan thought so. He was very logical and serious most times. He'd lighten up slightly, but there was always an air of responsibility to him. Scott was very determined, unlike Bobby who wanted to play a prank and get a good laugh. 

Bobby suppressed a smile and shrugged his shoulders. He and Ray joined everybody else in the room and sat down next to Amara and Tabitha on the couch. Jean followed Bobby with her eyes and then nudged Scott next to her. She bit her lip, shook her head and gave him a playful smile. 

Tabitha had been sitting on the couch for far too long and she was fed up with all this Halloween horror movie crap. She grabbed the remote from Kurt, who was enjoying a nice bowl of popcorn, and hit the forward button. 

Kurt stared at her, dumbfounded. "Let's skip these boring scenes and get to the scary part already." 

"Tabitha!" Kurt practically screamed. "I happen to like ze boring parts." 

"Whatever!"

Tabitha forwarded through so many parts that to everyone sitting there watching, it was all a blur. It was an absolute soundless movie going around at an excessive speed. When the care free teenage girl was finally satisfied with the scene she had just passed, she hit the play button. Two minutes into the scene, the actress on the television screen let out a deafening scream. The thunder outside clapped, the lightning sent sparks of light into the night sky as an electrical cord was snapped and the room and everyone in it was plunged into darkness. 

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A/N: So what do you think? I know the beginning is sort of an introductory for this story…I promise that it'll get much, um, spookier later! Lol, well, anywho, please review and tell me what you think!! They will be greatly appreciated!! ^__^


	3. Chapter Two

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Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own them! They belong to Marvel and Kid's WB.

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Author's Note: Hey guys, it's me again! I know you're probably getting annoyed of me, but seriously I'm not that bad!! I would like to thank everyone who reviewed…and a suggestion to all--you should read very carefully because you never really know what I'm up to!! Hehe, I am evil like that, but mainly I like cliffhangers!! Anywho, I'm really starting to babble aren't I. I really love your feedback and if anybody can take any guesses, go ahead and give it a try! I have to say that everyone I put in here is for a reason! Somehow part of my sceam! Well, Read, Review, and *ENJOY!* Now, on with the show!! ^__^

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Girl Number One: Thanks for my very first review for this story! It was greatly appreciated. I know there are not that many spooky stories in this section, but I love writing them! Well, in a sense this story is not mainly about Kitty. I pretty much like to write about all of the characters and I try not to focus on one. Yet for Kitty, she seemed like that kind of girl to get spooked easier than others…but if you read the prologue, pay close attention to all of the five children and you'll see a slight resemblance! 

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Brie: Thanks for thinking my story was interesting! At first I wasn't so sure about it, so thanks for that!

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Dee Saylors: Thanks for thinking it's actually spooky. I'm trying my best to leave lots of cliffhangers and to have it as freaky as I can make it! I'm glad you like it! 

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Fright Fest

By: pinkchick

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Chapter 2

The Brotherhood of Mutants walked down the long and dark dirt road. They decided to casually walk around and they'd look like random trick or treaters. Tonight, it was only Lance, Toad, and the Blob out. Pietro had insisted on going out and Wanda didn't want anything to do with them. Lance sighed for the millionth time that night. He had just realized they were heading towards the Xavier Institute. He personally didn't want to be anywhere near that mansion. He and Kitty had had a falling out a month or so before, and to say they were on good terms would be a lie. 

"Hey guys, let's turn back already," Lance suggested. 

"Why would we wanna do that, yo?" Toad asked. He looked ahead and saw the mansion coming into view. "Oh. Well, let's see what the X-geeks are doing anyway."

"Yeah, let's crash the party," Fred put in with a rough voice and a thick laugh. 

"No, let's just go home," Lance insisted. He was about to turn his head the other way when suddenly the mansion's lights went out before his very eyes. "What the--?"

"Was that the lights?" Toad asked. Lance nodded without turning his head. A gust of wind blew past them and they all shivered. 

"There's something eerie going on," Lance stated. He ran in the direction of the mansion and motioned for the other two to follow. Toad caught a fly in front of his face and smiled as he swallowed it. "No way, man, I ain't going there," Toad said, crossing his arms. 

Lance rolled his eyes and grabbed Toad by the shirt and dragged him along. He let out a girlish scream and Fred slowly followed behind. 

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Screams filled the living room full of mutants. It was pitch black and having the moon covered by thick storm clouds didn't help any. The guys tried to calm everyone down, but some girls still panicked and screamed. Some dark bodies collided into each other or stepped on someone's feet. 

"Everyone just calm down," Scott said calmly. "The lightning must have struck one of the electrical wires. Kurt and I, we'll go find the flashlights." 

"Ve vill?" Kurt asked him through the darkness. Kurt reached for Amanda's hand next to him and squeezed it in reassurance. He bent down so that he thought that he was next to her ear. "I'll be back, Amanda." He heard her nod and got up from his position. 

"C'mon, Kurt," Scott ordered. Since Scott could see better in the dark than anyone else, he really had no trouble walking towards the exit. Whereas Kurt bumped into many things along the way. 

Tabitha still sat there with the remote controller in her hand. She looked annoyed, but her face was eclipsed by the pure darkness illuminating the room. The movie had just begun to get better. "Great, there goes the night, guys!" 

"T-that's wh-what you're worried about?" Amara asked her. 

Kitty sat next to the window, frightened, as she listened to Tabitha's complaining and Kurt's shuffling body making it's way towards the entrance. She bit her fingernails as a swarm of air made it's way past her. It whipped around her body in a cold grip. Kitty shuddered. Throwing her feet over the couch's armrest, she jumped out of her seat. "Scott, Kurt, like, wait for me."

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"So, vhere are ze candles and ze flashlights, ja?" Kurt asked, grabbing the back of Scott's shirt so he wouldn't bump into anything. "I never realized zis place vas so creepy in the dark." 

Kitty clung to Kurt's tale for dear life as she followed the two boys into the kitchen - or what she thought to be the kitchen. Why she had decided to follow them on their search for light was beyond her, but she didn't want to just sit there in the dark and wait. She heard Scott rummage through one of the kitchen drawers searching for a flashlight. This darkness was really starting to scare her. 

"Scott, did you, like, find the flashlights?" Kitty asked, her voice quivering. She heard more rummaging. 

"Yeah, I found them," Scott responded. "Kurt, wouldja loosen your grip on my shirt, please?" 

"Oh, sorry," Kurt apologized. He tried to hide his face, but then realized that he was in the dark anyhow. "Keety, my tail!" 

Kitty bit her lip. "Sorry, Kurt!"

"Alright guys, let me just get this thing turned on and we can…." Scott trailed off as they all heard two hard things fall to the floor and make a semi loud thud. Kurt and Kitty heard Scott bend down to the floor and start patting the floor around him. 

"What did you, like, drop?" Kitty asked, her voice shaking. The only light that now accented the big kitchen was the lightning flashing outside like fireworks. Kitty secretly hoped that Scott hadn't dropped his glasses, but then again there was really no reason that they would've fallen off. 

"The batteries," Scott answered. "The screws were loose - great timing, huh?" 

"Let's just, like, look for them and get the heck out of here." Kitty bent down and shoved Kurt down with her as they both helped Scott to find the lost batteries in the dark kitchen. The trio crawled around the kitchen: around the breakfast table, the counters and the window seat. They had been searching for a good fifteen minutes when Scott touched a small, hard object. He tried to pick it up from the floor, but it wouldn't budge. 

"What the--?" 

"Vhat's wrong? Did you find it?" 

"I think I found something else," Scott informed them. 

"Like, what is it?" Kitty asked as she crawled over to Scott and tried to reach for the object he was talking about. She felt around for it and finally took a hold of it. She turned it and it made a strange clicking noise. "Huh?" 

The events afterward were fast. The lightning outside lit the sky once again and Scott, Kurt, and Kitty jumped in horror as the thunder rumbled outside. A streak of lightning soared across the sky when the trio's faces turned very pale at the sight in front of them. It was quick, but there in front of them was a deathly pale girl with dark brown hair strewn across her face in a tangled mess. When darkness engulfed the room once more she was gone. Scott, Kurt, and Kitty let out terrified screams as another clicking noise was heard and they disappeared into the darkness. No one ever heard a thing. 

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"Ugh, what is taking them so long?" Jean asked no one in particular. She shifted in her seat for the third time that night. An uneasy feeling overcoming her, she felt a pang of worry. Scott, Kitty, and Kurt had been gone for a half an hour and she couldn't even sense them anymore. She lifted her slender hands towards her temples and attempted to contact Scott telepathically. Since they shared a strong bond, she was afraid that something bad had happened. Jean couldn't sense him anymore. Nor could she contact him telepathically. Jean tried over and over again, but to no avail. Something seemed to be blocking her powers. Something…different. 

"Ah can't wait here no longer," Rogue announced through the darkness. "There has ta be some candles lahyin' around here somewhere." She got up and wandered around in the heavy blackness of the living room until she found what she was looking for. 

Jean knew what she was looking for and remembered that there were some candles and matches in the desk drawer near the back of the room. Why hadn't they thought of that before. Jean sighed, it was too late now. She walked over to Rogue and helped her look through the dark drawers of the desk until they finally found two long sticks and a box of matches. Lighting up both of the candles, Jean and Rogue set them in the back and one near the front of the room. The candle's lights still burned too dim for them to see everyone clearly in the big room. The darkness was still hovering outside and it only seemed to get darker. 

"I'm worried about Kurt," Amanda stated, hugging herself and biting her quivering lip. She had come here to spend time with her boyfriend and he deserts her, then never comes back. "What would take them so long to find flashlights anyway?"

"Ah know whatcha mean Amanda, but they did go in the dark. It's gonna take 'em awhahle," Rogue told her, half in sympathy, and half to ease the gnawing feeling inside of her that something was oddly wrong. She turned her head to face Jean's silhouette in the dim light that outlined the room. "Jean? Have ya tried to contact any of them through telepathy?"

Jean sighed and placed her hand beneath her chin. "Yeah, I did. For some weird reason, my powers wouldn't work. There's some kind of blockage around the house or something." 

"Blockage?" Tabitha asked in a concerned voice. "So your tellin' me that some kind of mystical power is surrounding the house?" 

Jamie sat next to Amara listening intently to the girl's conversation. Why Tabitha thought that there was some kind of mystical power, he couldn't figure out, but he did know that this starting to creep him out. He would be the most freaked out, after all, he was the youngest and scary things weren't on his list of excitement. Three people are already missing; who knew what could happen next. Roberto sat next to him and fiddled with a piece of string. "Hey three people are already missing," he said, as if reading Jamie's mind. "Anything's believable." He flung his hands in the air after the string snapped and slammed into Jamie, who ended up in fives on the floor.

Jean shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know for sure, but I can't get through to Scott. Whatever this blockage is, it's strong. I'm sure they'll be back any time now, though."

Amara was about to open her mouth to speak when a dark outline of a shadow appeared at the window near where Kitty had been sitting. She widened her eyes, pointed at the window and screamed. All of a sudden a large crash of shattering glass awoke the mansion and it's occupants. Everyone in the room tried to duck out of the way in time. The noise abruptly stopped and everyone lifted their heads to see who the intruder was. 

"Lance?" Tabitha questioned as the figure dusted off the glass shards that were covering his body. Lance Alvers stood there in all his glory smirking at them. Blob and Toad moved in to stand beside him. "What the heck are you guys doin' here?" 

"We were just in the neighborhood, yo," Toad said matter of factly. "Lance saw your lights go off so we decided we should investigate the situation." Tabitha rolled her eyes at him. "Why do you guys care anyways?" she asked. All three just shrugged. Though she had lived with the Brotherhood for awhile before Mystique had reentered the game, Tabitha thought that Lance was the only smart person in the group. She thought the others were pretty much brainless losers. 

"Wha didn't you losers just use the front door?" Rogue asked, raising her eyebrow and crossing her arms over her chest. 

"Oh," Lance said, running a nervous hand through his brown hair. "Sorry about that. We actually did try, but uh, it was locked and the doorbell was obviously not working so I just got Blob here to bust down the window." 

Blob stood triumphant as if he had just saved a person's life. A strong breeze blew past once again as it enveloped the room this time with a crisp wave of air. Amanda shuddered and hugged herself, wishing that Kurt were there to help keep her warm. Unfortunately he hadn't come back; Scott and Kitty had yet to be seen either. Amanda suddenly wished that she had stayed home and just invited Kurt over to her house. 

"Thanks guys, now it's going to get even colder in here and the wind is probably going to blow out the candles." Jean stood up and paced around the room, deep in thought. "Maybe it wasn't the lightning that shut the electricity off."

"Hey, she's right!" Tabitha inquired. She crossed her legs and turned to face Jean. "Didn't Bobby and Ray say that they had just chased off those pranksters that were attempting to egg our house?" 

Amara nodded and agreed with her best friend. "Yeah. But why would anyone wanna do that?"

"Hello, Amara!" Tabitha waved a hand in front of the girl's face. "We're mutants, remember? Who wouldn't wanna egg our house?"

"Enough ahlready! Wha don't we just ask the boys what those gahys said; after all, they _were _the ones who were there," Rogue insisted. 

"Good idea, Rogue." Jean smiled. She tried to hide her worry behind her smile towards her housemate, but she sensed something else was wrong. It was something beyond what three teenage boys could play. Three _normal _teenage boys at least. "Let's just ask Bobby and Ray, then we could go and find Scott, Kitty, and Kurt."

Lance jumped at the mention of Kitty's name and immediately went into interrogation mode. "Wait, Kitty's missing?" 

"No, she just hasn't come back from the kitchen yet. She left with Scott and Kurt to get flashlights," Amanda answered before anyone could open their mouths. She bit her lip again and closed her eyes. "I hope Kurt's okay," she whispered. 

"How long has she been gone?" Lance asked slowly, not really wanting to hear the answer, but still wanting to find out about what happened to the girl that he cared about and blindly pushed away. 

Jean looked down at her watch and answered, "Forty five minutes and counting. Let's just get back to the situation at hand, okay?" Jean sighed and then asked, "Bobby, Ray, what did you sense about those guys outside?"

Silence hung over the room like a thick cloud waiting for someone to walk through it and clear the air. Everyone looked around the room and squinted their eyes to see in the dim of the candlelight reflections flickering on the walls. They all waited for an answer, but none came. "Bobby, Ray? Sam, will you get them to talk. This isn't a joke!" Jean practically shouted at the top of her lungs. Thunder roared and clamored outside like it was being beaten. Lightning tore through the night and cast more light into the dimly lit room. Their eyes wandered around the room once more before they all widened their eyes; Bobby, Ray, and Sam were nowhere to be found. 

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A/N: Well….tell me guys, please! I'm begging, and I'll probably be updating every week or so unless I'm really busy or something! Please review and tell what you like and what you think…your opinions are greatly valued! Thanks! ^__^


	4. Chapter Three

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Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own them. They only belong to Marvel and Kid's WB. I only own the characters that don't exist (i.e. the characters in the prologue.)

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Author's Note: Those were great reviews, you guys! I'm really happy you're liking this story!! By the way, when I said Jean's power wasn't working right…well some people's are, it just varies to my liking I guess. You'll understand later! But, I really appreciate all of the great reviews I'm getting, thanks once again! I actually had to rewrite this chapter because I was confusing myself and wasn't at all happy with the outcome -- now I am! So I hope you like it! Don't forget to review, k, and tell me what you think! Now, enough rambling and on with the show! Read, Review, and *ENJOY!*

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The Resident Psychopath: I'm glad you think this story is freaky, weird, and cool! I'm glad you like it! 

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Dee Saylors: Thank you for your gracious reviews, that's two from you so far! I'm also glad you think this is addictive, I'm addicted to writing it! And you'll see where everyone went soon enough, I promise! 

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Fright Fest

By: pinkchick

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Chapter 3

Below the sublevels of the mansion, a medium sized room lay in desolation. It was even darker than the living room. It was dusty, as though no one had dared to enter there for many years. Cobwebs hung low, although, being that there was not any source of light, they were scarcely seen. The floor was also covered in a thick layer of gray. The room hadn't been used in almost a hundred years. In the late nineteenth century it had been used as an old storage closet. Now, it's remains are scattered as the dust particles floated around the room like a thick cloud of fog. 

The room's compartments were large and a secret door was hidden near the top of the room. The door at the top of the deep, dark corner of the room made a clicking noise and three figures fell in a heap onto the floor. As the figures lay in the dark depths of unconsciousness, they were oblivious of the one lone shadow looming above them.

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"How could they just disappear?" Amara asked, her voice quivering. "They were all sitting right next to me a second ago, I swear!" 

"Calm down girl," Tabitha urged her. "They probably had to go use the bathroom or something."

"They would've told us if they had to use the bathroom." Amara started shaking visibly. "Now th-they've d-dis-disappeared just like th-the others." 

Next to her, Jamie and Roberto looked like they had just seen a ghost. How could their friends have just disappeared like that. The two of them couldn't think of a logical explanation. One minute, they're in the room; the next they're gone. It was giving everyone bad thoughts as to what could've happened to any of the missing people. 

"Let's just think about this guys," Jean stated. "Scott, Kitty, and Kurt haven't come back yet. Sam, Ray, and Bobby have disappeared--"

"Yeah, we should go and look for Kurt and the others," Amanda cut her off. 

"What're are you crazy!?" Tabitha screeched. "We'll just disappear, just like the rest of them." 

"She's right, yo," Toad added. "I'm leavin', 'fore I end up being a transparent figure." Toad began to make his way behind him for the window. He didn't even know why they had come here to begin with. They weren't really friends with the X-men, were they? Before he could move a muscle, he felt a tug on his shirt. Lance was holding him back. 

"Hey, yo, what're you doin'?" Toad asked as he looked up at Lance with an incredulous look on his face. 

"We're not leaving until we find Kitty," Lance stated with a determined look on his face. 

Amanda Sefton just sat on the couch as she heard everyone around her either protesting or trying to think of a plan in which to execute and find the missing people. She just wanted to find Kurt and lay there safely in his arms. That wasn't about to happen anytime soon with all the chaos that was happening. She looked over to Jean, who was standing and talking to Rogue, about something she couldn't hear. The red head looked slightly pale, as though she felt something that everyone didn't. In this case, it was because she didn't feel anything anymore. 

Jean was trying to keep herself and everybody else calm, but inside she was panicking. Jean sighed and wished things had stayed the way they were in the beginning of the night; her sitting next to Scott on the couch and just being able to relax. But, there was something very wrong going on. She figured splitting up would be the best thing to do. They'd be able to cover more ground and come out with quicker results. Jean and Rogue decided to split themselves into two groups. The first group consisting of Jean, Rogue, Amanda and Lance. The second group consisting of Tabitha, Roberto, Amara, Jamie, Blob, and Toad. Taking their respective routes, they each set out to find their missing friends.

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"This plan is working perfectly," a male voice said through the darkness. "It couldn't be any better!" 

"What if they try and harm us, guys? I mean most of them are seriously powerful mutants," another voice said through the ebony of the night. 

"C'mon, we're not scared of them!" a third voice joined into the group. "We can do this and they wouldn't even know what hit them." 

The three of them smirked as the night lit up once more, if only for a moment, and huddled together as they walked through the darkness. The three were oblivious to the transparent barrier, although clear, blocking the outside of the mansion. 

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"Remind me why we came up here, yo?" Toad asked as he slowly followed his group down the enormous hallway. Toad peered around the widened space through the flicker of the candle that was burning in Tabitha's hand. He had been to the mansion twice before, but he never had imagined it to be this big, especially in the dark. Blob shrugged his shoulders in response to Toad's question. Toad sighed and wished there were some flies around here somewhere, breaking through the window had given him an appetite. 

The candle's light danced around in shadows on the nicely painted brown walls. There were no windows in the hallway and the only light was coming from the candle. Due to the lack of light, the hallway in which most of them walked through everyday seemed much bigger than it was. There were five room doors in this hall leading down to the end and the hall seemed like a never ending passage in which they could not break free. 

Tabitha glanced around the hall, making sure that they were alone. She was trying to be the calm one in her group, to keep them all sane, but inside she was just as scared. When Jean had told them that something was blocking her powers, she had inquired that there was something mystical. Now, Tabitha could almost be positive that it was sure to be ghosts. Fearing of disappearing like the others, she ushered everyone to stay close to the person next to them. As Amara held onto the back of her shirt, she walked forward. 

"Tabitha, wh-what exactly are we looking for?" Amara asked, fearful of everything around her. 

Tabitha rolled her eyes, she loved her best friend like a sister, but this was getting to be too much. "Amara, cool it, okay! We're obviously looking for Ray, Bobby, and Sam, remember?" 

"Oh, right!" 

"Can't we just walk faster and then get outta here. This place is pretty spooky," Roberto put in. Jamie was following closely behind him as Roberto peered around with his eyes, afraid of what might fly out of one of the doors. 

"Alright already!" Tabitha exclaimed, a little louder than she would've liked. They all jumped back slightly afraid of her tone. "You wanna get through here faster, huh? Jamie why don't we set your powers to use, shall we?" 

Jamie backed away from Tabitha's incoming hand. He just looked at her with wide eyes and shook his head quickly. "Uh-uh, I'm not going in there alone. You must be crazy!"

"C'mon, Jamie! Nothing will harm you I promise," Tabitha looked at him sincerely. Jamie still shook his head and continued to back away. Blob shoved past them and moved in front of the first door. He reached for it and turned the knob. It wouldn't budge; it was locked. 

"Hey!" Blob whined with his thick, heavy voice. "It's stuck!"

"How can it be stuck?" Amara questioned. She moved forward and tried to do what Blob had done, but to no avail. "He's right, it won't budge." She even tried melting through it with her powers, but they wouldn't work. "My powers, they're not working!"

Tabitha rolled her eyes again, but this time to try and conceal her concern. "Fine, then. Stand back, it's time for some badda bing, badda boom!" Tabitha gave the candle over to Amara and rolled her hands over to reveal two of her famous time bombs that she constantly used.

"Oh no!" Jamie muttered. Amara held out her free hand in front of her and stopped Tabitha before she could do anything. "Wait! Maybe--" 

Before Amara could finish her sentence, a sharp wind blew past all of them, piercing their bodies in pain and enrapturing them in a tight hold before it blew the candle's flame out. Roberto and Jamie backed up against the nearest wall, the one near the door that Tabitha was going to blow up a second ago. Amara heard Tabitha silently curse under her breath as she rummaged in her pocket for the matches she had put in there; she was still holding her time bombs in her hand. Amara looked around in the dark and bit her lip. 

"Hurry up, Tabitha!" Amara urged. "It's seriously creepy." 

Jamie felt a grip of a hand brush past him as he jumped away from the wall and scurried behind what he thought was Blob. "Roberto! That wasn't funny!" he shouted at his friend who was still sitting against the wall in the dark. Roberto didn't respond and all Jamie heard was a deep laugh coming from somewhere near them. 

Tabitha's time bombs finally exploded, a dark creak from somewhere near crept up, and an air piercing scream filled the air when the candle's tip lit up again. The hallway was once again filled with the dim lightness of the flame.

"What in the--?" Tabitha asked as she looked around and then back down at the light that just magically lit up again by itself in Amara's hand.

"You did light the candle, didn't you Tabitha?" Jamie asked, fear in his voice. "Please, tell me it was you." 

Tabitha looked around the hall. She didn't answer Jamie. She desperately wanted to tell him that it was her that used the matches and relit the candle, but she couldn't do it; she hadn't even touched the candle when it's flame brought back the light. It was as though someone just ran past her and turned it on with a snap of a finger. Tabitha was about to open her mouth to finally answer Jamie when she felt a hard tug. Amara was grasping the sleeve of her shirt and her fingers were beginning to dig into her skin. Tabitha bit her lip and gazed up at her friend. 

"What is it this time, Amara?" Tabitha asked and looked at her friend. Her features had turned paler than they already had been as Amara tried to speak, but no words escaped her mouth. Tabitha turned to everyone else and found them to be the same exact way: terror stricken. 

"What is it you guys?" Tabitha asked again, but still no reply. She turned her head in the direction everyone was staring in, and there it was. A black shadow just hovered in the distance near the end of the hallway. It just stood there as everyone's eyes were transfixed on it in a trance. 

"It's coming," Amara said in an eerie voice. Jamie shuddered as they just continued to stare. "Do you think it'll harm us?" 

"Stay where you are, and it probably won't," Tabitha reassured. 

"_Probably_!" Toad exclaimed in a crazed voice. "Yo, I ain't waitin' around here to find out." 

With that having been said, Toad tugged on Blob's shirt. They both looked each other in the face, screamed for their lives, and bolted from the hallway and down through the window they had come through earlier. The rest of the group stared at their retreating backs and then turned back to the situation at hand. The black shadow was still in it's place it seemed, only a little closer. It was slowly advancing towards them. Before Tabitha could fully register what was really going on she shouted, "RUN!!" 

Amara and Jamie did just that, they ran. It all seemed like it was moving in slow motion - the faster they all tried to run, the faster the shadow would move. It seemed to be gaining speed and Amara, Tabitha, and Jamie felt like they were on the verge of death. The shadow grew larger in width and continue advancing towards them. The three screamed in terror. "Whatever you do, don't look behind you!" Tabitha called behind her. 

Jamie and Amara turned to look at the shadow and widened their eyes as it seemed to open itself into a form of a mouth. The two of them screamed even louder. "Too late!" Amara shouted. They're hearts lost their usual rhythms and started beating faster, so fast that the three thought that they could jump out of their chests at any moment. The black shadow grabbed at the trio in front of it. 

Thinking fast, Amara turned around while still running, and waved the candle in front of the shadow. The pure black shadow flew back a couple of feet at first, but then seemed to advance on her even quicker than before. Amara screamed and moved the candle in front of her so she can give some light towards her friends. Without watching where she was going, Amara tripped over the stairs and starting tumbling down them, right into Jamie. The candle flew from her hand, thankfully caught by Tabitha on the ground floor. Amara immediately got up off of the floor and helped Jamie up as they met up with Tabitha and continued running. They stopped in the middle of the foyer and turned around. The black shadow was a couple of feet away. The trio didn't have anywhere to run any longer. Tabitha, in a panicky attempt to get out, ran to the door. She pulled as hard as she could, but it wouldn't budge. It seemed to be locked. She turned back around and they didn't even have time to scream as the black shadow widened and inched closer and closer…. 

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"Where in the world could they have gone?" Jean asked her group. The four of them had taken one of the candles and headed off in the direction of the kitchen. They would be sure to find clues in there. Just as Jean made her way towards one of the cabinet doors near the refrigerator, she slipped on something small and collapsed on the floor. "Ouch!" 

"Are ya alraght Jean?" Rogue asked. Jean nodded and picked herself up and then bent down to pick up the thing in which she fell on. Rogue walked over to her with the candle in her hand. "What did ya slip on?" 

Jean rolled the solid in her hand and held it up to the light to see it clearer. "It's a…battery." 

"Do you think they must've dropped it when they came in here?" Amanda asked, making her way over to the two other girls. 

"Probably," Jean answered. Rogue set the candle onto the kitchen table and took the battery from Jean's hand. "It probably fell from one of the flashlights."

Jean went over to the drawer that held the flashlights. She opened it and took one out for every one of them. As she closed the drawer, she noticed a small screw that was lying on top of the counter. Jean presumed that the screws were loose and that's why the batteries were on the floor. Going over to the candle she blew it out and gave everyone a flashlight. Lance shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. He wasn't sure if he should really be helping the X-men, even if it was to help find Kitty. He never felt like he belonged here, yet he continued helping them anyways. 

"So the kitchen's not huge, where do you think they could've gone?" Lance asked them. 

"They know better than to just wander off without telling anyone," Jean replied. "_Something_ must've happened." 

All of a sudden they heard a strange noise. Jean looked up and towards the window. She widened her green eyes - she could've sworn she saw three figures walk by, but in an instant they were gone. Jean figured that it was her imagination playing tricks on her. 

"Scott, where are you?" Jean asked herself. She looked around the kitchen hoping to find anything that could lead her to the first three people that went missing, her teammates, her friends, her family. 

A thin stream of lightning lit the night once more with more anger as the thunder roared in response. Lance ran to the window and lifted it. He stuck his head outside, but there were no clues that anything had ever been there. "What the hell was that?"

"What was what?" Amanda asked, obviously perplexed.

"You didn't see that?" Lance questioned. Amanda and Rogue both shook their heads in response. Jean just turned away and continued searching. She had believed in spirits, but only as some kind of mythical enchantment, never to exist in reality - not like this at least. Now, she was definitely a firm believer. 

"This is seriously getting out of hand. Let's just find Kurt and the others and get outta here before something else happens," Amanda said, her voice shaking. 

Out of the depths of the mansion, they heard two piercing screams get louder and then disappear just as quickly as they had heard them. The room stood in silence as they waited for another sound, but another never came. Amanda went over and stood by Lance next to the window. Lance saw a glimpse of what appeared to be Toad and Blob running as fast as they could. He eyed them closely until they disappeared into nothingness. 

"Okay, let's trah and retrace their searching steps," Rogue suggested. She assumed they would've tried to find the missing batteries before….she didn't even want to think about it. It was too eerie, even for her. "Ah think they woulda searched the whole kitchen." 

"Yeah, maybe," Jean said. She helped Rogue look around the kitchen. Lance and Amanda stood at the open window as though in a trance. A cold chill ran through the room. The room was dimmer now except for the two flashlights that were with Jean and Rogue. Lance and Amanda were still trying to identify what Lance had thought he had seen.

Another wind blew into the now open window. It chilled everyone, giving them all goosebumps that ran down their backs. The wind seemed to howl and whisper at the same time in the now growing darkness that seeped in the room. Lance and Amanda, still interested as to what was outside, had now turned off their flashlights. 

Jean and Rogue bumped into each other when they got to the far corner of the kitchen. They jumped slightly, thinking it was something else. They apologized and stood there, gazing at each other through the yellow light of the flashlight. "Did ya fahnd anything?" Rogue asked. 

Jean shook her head and let her hand drop from her heart, where it had been when Rogue had bumped into her. "No, you?" Rogue shook her head also. She looked down and placed the flashlight on the object she had found. 

"Hey, ah never saw this here," she said and motioned for Jean to bend down also. The two girls sat there hunched over, peering at the new discovery. It was a black button of some sort. No one had ever really noticed it for it was hidden in the deep corner, camouflaged where it couldn't be seen. Rogue reached out to touch it and it moved backward like a light switch. They both heard a clicking noise. Before they could properly identify it though, another noise was heard as they turned their heads to see who it was. 

Jean and Rogue turned their flashlights towards the source of sound, but widened their eyes at what they saw in front of them. In the light stood a young girl - Jean and Rogue couldn't tell anything else because the light was blinding them. They could only see her barely - she had soft features except for the fact that they were now covered in fear and paleness. Although Jean and Rogue's features were now etched in absolute horror, the young girl seemed to have some kind of pureness - like she was trying to reach out to them. 

Lance and Amanda finally closed the window as they turned around. They jumped back in utter terror when they looked to see the young girl who had appeared practically hovering over Jean and Rogue. They widened their eyes as Lance dropped his flashlight and they both screamed, a scream that caused the girl in front of them to turn around. Their eyes widened even more, if that was possible, to the point where they would have just jumped out. Without thinking, or trying to help, Lance and Amanda ran out of the kitchen screaming all the way out until their screams disappeared and only the wind could be heard. 

Beyond the young girl, a deep howl flowed through the room and wrapped around Jean and Rogue. The two girls let out piercing screams when the girl turned back to look at them. Their flashlights turned off suddenly and the young girl disappeared before their very eyes. Thunder grumbled as the streak of lightning electrified the night and Jean and Rogue fell into darkness. 

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	5. Chapter Four

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Disclaimer: I don't own them! They belong to Marvel and Kid's WB. I am making no money off of this, just purely entertainment. 

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Author's Note: Hey hey again!! Well, first off, thanks for those great reviews, they made my day, really! I'm sorry this took longer for me to post, but I was really busy and I wanted to make this chapter perfect…so I hope you like it! I hope I don't disappoint you guys with this one! Don't worry, some characters that haven't been getting a lot of action will probably show up in the next chapter. And more freaky stuff will happen, but this chapter is mainly explanatory…there will be more action (my kind!) in the next chapter. As always, I want you to review and tell me what you think. Like I said before, your opinions mean a lot to me. You can even review and tell me what you think is going on and that kind of stuff…but, enough talk for now. On with the show and as always, Read, Review, and *ENJOY!* ^__^ 

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Dee Saylors: I really appreciate your reviews…and you are a dedicated reviewer, I thank you very much for your time! Oh yeah, and thanks for adding my story to your favorites list, I'm so excited about that, and again thanks a bunches! 

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Rageful Jewel: Wow, that was definitely one of the longest reviews I've ever read! Thank you so much for actually giving this story the time of day! I can't believe you had tears of fear in your eyes--never thought I could actually scare someone like that! Anyways, I'm glad you like the story and dubbing me the "author of fright", that meant a lot! ^__^

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Sweet-destiny3: That was a great review! Thank you for the compliment. I'm glad this story makes you wonder. I thank you for your words about this story. I like your stories too, they always have a meaning and thanks for reading mine, I appreciate it! 

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Fright Fest

By: pink chick

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Chapter 4

The black shadow veered closer and closer until it was so close that the three mutants in front of it could taste their own end. It closed the gap between them and continued to pull itself open to engulf them into a sea full of darkness, when a noise interrupted it. Tabitha, Amara, and Jamie looked beyond the shadow and saw a glimpse of what they thought was a girl, who seemed deathly pale in the dim glow of the candle Tabitha was still holding. The black shadow turned back to the trio in front of it, but then let out a spluttering noise, as if in pain. 

Tabitha, Amara, and Jamie screamed at the top of their lungs as the black shadow warped and surrounded them in a deep black pool. At that moment, Tabitha stepped out in front of her two friends in protection; the shadow was gonna have to get her first. They all closed their eyes and waited for their lives to end - but nothing ever happened. When the three of them opened their eyes they saw the black shadow thing grow even larger and then disperse into nothingness; a faint sound of a cry of pain escaping it's form. 

"What the--" Tabitha started, but was abruptly cut off by two screams coming from somewhere nearby and getting closer by the minute. Tabitha held the candle tightly in her hand and didn't dare lose her grip on it as though it would go out any second. Amara and Jamie stood next to her in absolute fear as the thunder outside rumbled like the earth during an earthquake. Tabitha opened and closed her eyes again - this couldn't be happening, the black shadow had been there a second ago and then it just vanished when the screams pierced the air. 

Tabitha, Amara, and Jamie jumped out of their skin when two figures bumped into them from behind. They all let out screams of terror and turned around, the candle pointed at the strangers. The dark still illuminated the two faces standing in front of them. Tabitha, Amara, and Jamie backed up against the door and gulped down the fear that was escalating in the darkness with just the flame of the candle to light the way. It was already melting anyways, soon it would die out and they wouldn't have anything anymore. 

"Tabitha is that you?" a semi deep voice called from the shadows. 

"Wh-who w-wants to know?" Tabitha asked shakily, trying to keep the braveness in her voice. There was something in that voice, she knew who it was. 

"Tabitha! Don't talk to it, let's get outta here, NOW!" Amara pleaded and yanked at Tabitha. 

"NO!" Another voice called out from the shadows of the dampening foyer. This voice was softer, a hint of fear encased within it. "Don't go!"

Before Tabitha got the chance to respond, Amara and Jamie removed her from her frozen spot and ran to the hallway to the left of them. They ran and the two figures followed suit. It was a never ending game of tag to them, in a way. The trio reached the end of the hallway and found themselves trapped again. 

"Will you three stop it," the voice called out. "It's us."

"Us who? And why should we believe you?" Jamie asked, moving his eyes through the dark foglike denseness. 

The two figures moved closer: it was Lance and Amanda. "How about now?" Lance asked. The three smiled and walked over to Lance and Amanda. They looked extremely pale, as though something they had seen had scared them to death. Perspiration ran down the side of their faces and they were breathing hard. The five of them took a deep breath and sat down, using the walls as a backrest. They were all tired from running and sat down to rest their legs and to stop their hearts from beating so fast. 

Amara stopped breathing so heavily and let her breath ease up to it's normal speed. She had never run so hard in her life. What was that thing? She'd never seen anything like it before. Realization finally dawned on her and she shuddered with the thought that she and her friends could've been killed. All she knew was the black shadow looked like it generated pure evil and hate. She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall. The night was going by too slowly for her liking. 

"Hey! Where are Rogue and Jean? Didn't you guys leave with them?" Tabitha asked Lance and Amanda. The two just looked at each other and goosebumps ran down their spine. 

"We don't know what happened to them." Lance shrugged. "Last we saw, they were stuck in a corner and a ghost was huddled over them." Lance looked away at the end of his sentence. The ghost - he couldn't help but recalling the sadness in the ghost's eyes, even though Lance was scared to death. He hadn't meant to run out like that, but fear had taken over his body and his brain had stopped working. His body had just told him to run. 

"A g-gh-ghost?" Jamie asked. He was getting majorly freaked. After what he had just seen, a ghost wouldn't have been surprising to him - but both of them in the same house. What was going on around here? The night wasn't getting any better. 

Amanda nodded her head and moved her hair behind her ears. "That's why we ran outta there. I think we should go back to get them, though."

"No way!" Lance stated defensively. "There is no way in hell I'm going back there. Didn't you see that thing. By now they're probably long gone and I don't wanna be next on the menu." 

"But what about Kitty? Don't you think she might be in the same predicament?" Amanda asked him. She knew he cared about Kitty a lot, like she cared about Kurt; she wasn't going to give up and leave him alone with ghosts haunting the mansion like guards blocking the white house. 

"I wanna help Kitty, but she's with Kurt and Scott, right? She's in safe hands," Lance implied, shaking off the fear of what he had seen in the kitchen. It had to have been a ghost. But, did he really believe in ghosts, or Halloween even. He believed in them, but only really in the movies. This was getting beyond his control and he was beginning to regret staying here, even if it was for Kitty. "If you're gonna go back there, be my guest. But, you're gonna have to kill me first." 

Tabitha rolled her eyes and balled her hands into fists. She had had it with Lance Alvers. He was being so insensitive. She was scared at first, but just imagine how everyone else who had disappeared must be feeling. She gave Lance a death glare and narrowed her eyes. She knew it was really dim, but knew he saw her and turned away at her menacing glare. "That _can_ be arranged, you know." 

"Let's just think, ok," Jamie spoke, with renowned bravery in his voice. He was sick of all of this hocus pocus and wanted to do something about. What he had just seen a second ago frightened him out of his skin. He didn't want to let some ghost, or whatever that thing was, to just haunt this mansion and get away with kidnapping their friends. "We have two other people missing, right?" 

"What's you're point, kid?" Lance asked seriously. He placed his hand on his knee and gave a rebellious half smirk. "Wait," he said, coming to a realization, "are you blaming me and Amanda for just ditching the two damsels?"

"No, I'm just trying to--" 

"Look, kid. I'm freaked out alright! Just because you still have everyone present in your group doesn't mean that--" Lance was cut off by Tabitha.

"Hey! We lost two members," Tabitha confirmed. She gave a half smile and shrugged. "Well, sorta. They kinda ran out on us! And their Blob and Toad so they don't really count, now do they?" 

"Hold that thought, guys," Amara stated in a shaky voice. The remaining people turned to look at her. She stood up and looked around the room in panic. This was wrong, this night was going all wrong. She counted everyone through the dimness of the light and widened her eyes. Thunder grumbled in the background. "Wh-where's Roberto?" 

________________________________________________________________________

The stream of lightning made itself known as it sent another shard of electricity sprawling downwards towards the dark recesses of the earth. The thunder pounded and shook the dark, void night sky. The wind blew so hard, the trees bent over but held their ground. The clouds became thinner and let the moon shine it's light, but then gradually and just as quickly disappeared. Three figures stood outside with rope in their hands. They were perfectly executing their plan.

"Did you see their faces?" one of them asked. 

"Oh yeah, they were all freaked!" the other replied. 

"If only they knew what we're doing to them," the last one added and snickered slightly. 

"You're telling me?" the first one asked. He placed the rope down onto the ground and smiled triumphantly. He then pointed to something deep in the darkness of the corner. It was covered in pitch darkness, only two white shapes could be seen through the dampness. The figure's smile broadened at the sight and turned to the other two figures. "It'll be even better when we freak them out with our secret weapon." 

They all laughed evilly as all three of their laughs turned into one. Their laughs turned into a high pitched tone that could be heard echoing throughout the mansion grounds. The moon hid it's face behind the clouds as the figures continued on with their snickering, while the thunder growled even louder.

________________________________________________________________________

Jean and Rogue fell through a deep black hole. It seemed like a thin and narrow tunnel that never ended. They just kept falling, falling and falling. They screamed at the top of their lungs out of fear or the slightest hope of anyone finding them and helping them out of their predicament. They grabbed each other's hands in panic as they continued falling to their doom. 

Jean, thinking quickly, attempted to use her telekinesis to stop them from falling so fast; but, it wouldn't work. She figured it was the same reason her telepathy wasn't working, but she didn't know that reason. The tunnel was dark and it seemed to run under the sublevels…or at least her and Rogue thought so. On the other hand, she and Rogue didn't really get the chance to think as they slid faster and faster down the long, dark tunnel like slide. 

Just when the girls finally thought they were reaching the end, their bodies jerked towards the right and they just continued falling. Apparently, the main pathway down the tunnel seemed to be blocked by something. The tunnel was getting steeper and darker as it narrowed even more. Rogue and Jean screamed even louder as some type of door opened for them and they fell down to meet the dusty ground below. 

________________________________________________________________________

"What do you mean 'where's Roberto?'" Tabitha asked, placing the candle on the small table standing at the back of the hall. Tabitha looked at before turning to the others. She checked her pocket and made sure that the matches that she had placed in there were still there. She smiled when she felt the small box and turned to Amara. "He _was _with us, wasn't he?" 

"I thought he was, but then I didn't even notice him leave, or, or disappear! Ohmigod! We're gonna die!" Jamie choked back in a cracked voice.

"Jamie… we… are… not… gonna… **_die_**!" Tabitha snapped back at him. He flinched and backed away. 

"So you guys lost a member too, huh?" Lance asked, smirking and crossing his arms across his chest. "Now I don't feel so guilty," he added in a joking matter, obviously trying to hide his look of fear that passed through his now wide eyes. 

"Lance, this isn't funny!" Amanda practically shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. "This is really serious. We've gotta go out and find them, now. What if something really bad has happened to them?" 

Through the dimness they all nodded in agreement. Amara was the only one pacing around the medium sized corridor. She was glancing at them each one by one, slowly, as though taking in what was still going on that none of them could obviously fathom. "Ok, the candle went out, right?" she asked no one in particular. 

"Yeah, so?" 

"And then I heard a weird laugh, or maybe I was too scared to really listen for anything." 

"No, you weren't, I heard it too," Jamie said. He shivered in fear as another gust of light wind rushed past them in a hurry. Jamie clenched his hands together in anger and annoyance. "Who keeps on **_doing that_**?" he shouted to the hall, his jaw clenched tightly and his teeth gritted. He almost looked like a grown man whom someone had pushed over the edge. 

"I know, there's not even a window around here," Amara stated. 

"Will you just get back to your stupid point so I can leave?" Lance questioned, his arms still in the same position. He was beginning to get aggravated. Standing around here and doing nothing wasn't doing Kitty or anyone else any good. He just wanted to get out of this mansion as soon as he possibly could, before he ended up disappearing like the rivals in which he usually hated with a passion. 

Amara rolled her eyes at Lance and was about to retort back an answer, but decided to continue, for the sake of her friends. "Like I was saying, there was a laugh. Then, the candle came back to life and a huge black thing appeared--"

"You mean, l-like a g-ghost?" Amanda asked her, making a frightened face and hugging herself, in a sense to keep her safe. She had already seen one ghost and it was scaring her out of her wits. It was too much for her to handle. 

"Well, sorta. It was more like a shadow, with a really huge looking mouth that formed outta nowhere," Amara continued, trying to describe the figure as best as she could, forgetting for a moment that they needed to get back to the situation at hand. 

"Amara!" Tabitha chastised. "We're kinda in a hurry, so please, just get back to your explanation." 

Amara glanced down in embarrassment, though no one really saw her, and continued, "Sorry! Anyways, when it started running after us, I just realized that Roberto had already disappeared." 

"Just our luck, huh? We have another person missing on our hands. Just great!" Tabitha inquired. 

"If you're done with your explanations now, I'm leaving." Lance got up from his place against the wall and started walking towards the front of the hall. Tabitha held him back by his collar and stopped him. Lance turned and looked at her; she had a determined look on her face. It was a face mixed in with both fear, concern, and a slight bit of hope. "Hold it, Lance. No one's going anywhere." 

"You can't stop me, Tabitha. I've already made up my mind," Lance said, eyeing her and not moving his gaze. Tabitha didn't flinch at all; she gave him an even more determined look and narrowed her eyes in the growing dimness. She formed her free hand into the form in which she used to make her time bombs and Lance gulped. "I can stop you alright! We have to stick together and no one's going anywhere until we figure out where everyone went and find them, alright?" 

They all gulped and nodded their heads in quick agreement. Even Lance started shaking visibly. He usually looked to be the hero in most situations dealing with the Brotherhood, but right now was the only time anyone had ever really seen him show true fear. Ever. 

"So, where do you think Roberto disappeared to anyways? We would've heard him, right?" Tabitha asked, a sound of bravery back in her voice. No one responded and she turned to all of them. "Right? Guys? _Hello_?!!" The silence still hung in the air on a string. The string finally broke when Amanda shrieked and jumped back towards the wall. The candle was fading away slowly towards the end. It was shedding it's last pieces of wax. Tabitha looked at Amanda through the growing darkness and glanced towards where she had been standing. "What is it now, you g…." Tabitha trailed off as her eyes widened.

She couldn't believe her eyes. She closed them and opened her eyes again, but there it was. _Not again_, she thought. But, this time, to her surprise, it wasn't the black shadow. Instead, at the end of the hall, there stood three figures of complete white color. A deathly, pale white color. They started advancing towards the group of teens as they backed away, too afraid to do anything. The thunder growled as another, slower, gust of wind swept past them. The final drops of wax hit the bottom of the candle as the flame went out slowly and they were left in complete and utter darkness. ________________________________________________________________________


	6. Chapter Five

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Disclaimer: You know I don't own 'em. Check previous chapters. 

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Author's Note: Hey everyone, I'm back again!! Well, this chapter is here and I have to say that I am proud of it. Sorry it took so long for me to type up, but I've been seriously busy this past week and a half…next week will be pretty hectic too with Christmas coming up and all. Yes, I will still be updating over break, I promise!! Anywho, enough of my ramblings…oh and by the way, thank you for all the generous reviews!! They're really making my day…so thanks a lot!! ^__^ 

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Dee Saylors: Thank you for your continuing devotion to this story. You review for every chapter, and I am more than grateful. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. I hope you like this chapter as much as I liked writing it. 

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Sweet Like Chocolate: Thank you for reviewing…and you're very welcome. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough who the three figures are! I just like to mess around with people's heads for awhile before I actually tell you who it is. And I totally understand, when you've got work to do--you never have time for anything! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

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Sweet-destiny3: Thank you for your continued writing advice and suggestions. Actually, I can't believe you're liking this story!! Hehe, well, anywho, I hope you like this chapter, after all, I did use one of your suggestions and you know what I'm talking about. Well, enjoy!

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Lily Knotwise of Michel D: Hey, thanks for reviewing and you'll find out where some of the people went, trust me…in this chapter there's three!! Thanks and enjoy! 

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pyro2009: Hey…wow, I can't believe you were scared! I usually try and freak myself out while I'm writing to get in the mood, so I'm glad that some other people are getting scared too! Thanks for reading and enjoy this chapter! 

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Fright Fest

By: pinkchick

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Chapter 5

Darkness. Thick and utter darkness. A musty smell raised itself amongst the dust filled room. It suffocated the room as it encased it with it's dirty hands. From far away the thunder continued to shake with fury, although it was fading into a thin whisper. In the pitch dark room three quiet moans could be heard; although they were all not above a soft mumbling sound that eventually became one. A figure moved slightly and the dust particles scattered in fear, moving to create a soft cloud above the room. 

When Kitty Pryde came to, she let out another moan and moved her head. Her eyes were still clamped shut, but she felt a fierce pain shoot through the side of her head. She slowly realized that hadn't been the best idea. She moved her hand and placed it behind her head and slowly attempted to sit up, but something or someone was under her. Kitty moved her head back to it's original place and opened her eyes. She couldn't remember what had happened; only that she had been in the kitchen, doing…..she tried to rack her mind, but nothing would come to her. Why did her head hurt and why was it so dark? 

"Where am I?" Kitty asked the room. She closed her eyes and opened them once again. She thought she had to be dreaming. This place certainly didn't look like any room in the mansion, especially not the kitchen. She heard two soft moans coming from somewhere near her. Before Kitty could turn around a soft breeze blew past her. She shivered from the cold. She narrowed her eyes in attempt to see better, but to no avail. It was too dark for her eyes to adjust to, so she just had to take in what she saw in a groggy fashion, as though she had just woken up from her sleep. She began thinking about how she ended up here to begin with. 

"I was in the kitchen looking for flashlights, when Scott dropped the batteries. Me and Kurt tried to help him……" Kitty trailed off. Her blue eyes widened in the dark and she twisted her body around and felt around her. She remembered that Scott and Kurt had been with her, of course, why they had all been unconscious was still a mystery to her. Now Kitty knew who was somewhat laying under her. She laid down her hand and felt for something. Kitty giggled excitedly when she felt Kurt's fur. At least she wasn't alone in this.

Kitty reached under Kurt and touched a very cold arm. Scott. Kitty's smile widened and she started shaking the both of them violently. "You guys! Get up. Kurt, Scott, like, we have to figure out where we are. C'mon, get up, please." Kitty didn't even know why she had woken up first. Although seeing as to how they had fallen, the boys had broken Kitty's fall. "GET UP!"

Kurt was the first to jolt to the land of the conscious. He slammed one of his hands into the ground next to him and the other, accidentally, into Scott. Scott grasped his stomach in pain as he sat up and pushed Kurt's hand off of him. "Vhat? Vhat's wrong? Vhat happened?" Kurt asked, flailing his arms around in the dark. Scott turned in Kurt's direction. "Kurt, watch where you put your hand, ok. Your hand dug into my stomach." 

"Sorry, Scott," Kurt apologized. "I didn't mean to." He turned to face Kitty, or at least, attempted to see her facial features in the dark. "Vhat happened?" 

"I'm, like, so glad you two are awake!" Kitty exclaimed in her usual happy tone which turned serious afterwards. "Um, does anyone, like, know where we are?" 

"You mean, ve're not in ze kitchen?!" 

"No."

"The batteries."

"The click." 

"The girl," they all said in unison. The three looked at each other. Beneath the darkness, their features turned the pale color that had been when they encountered the eerie looking girl in the kitchen. Kitty's upbeat attitude towards finding her friends had now faded. She hugged herself and they all crowded together. From somewhere very distant, they heard what sounded like two screams fading away. 

"What was that?" Scott asked, swallowing the big knot in his throat. He heard Kitty and Kurt shake their heads. Scott closed his eyes and then reopened them. He was obviously trying to keep himself calm. Albeit, he was the leader of the X-men, that didn't mean that he couldn't be scared. In fact, right now, after what he had seen in the kitchen, he was terrified. To keep Kitty and Kurt in check though, he would hide it and make sure they did what needed to be done. "Ok, look. First, we have to find our way out of here and find someone - anyone and…"

"Hey, Kurt can, like, teleport us out of here," Kitty insisted, abruptly cutting Scott off in attempt to quicken the pace and get out this place. 

"Ok, hold on." Kurt reached in and grabbed Scott and Kitty's arms. He envisioned the kitchen and waited for them to hear a small bamf, but it never came.

"Kurt, we're still here," Scott said. He hoped that something wasn't seriously wrong. Whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than their situation. 

"I know. I can't teleport. It's not vorking!" Kurt exclaimed, his voice rising with panic. 

Scott widened his eyes behind his glasses and Kitty gasped in the darkness. Okay, it was worse. Much worse. Now they would never get out of here. 

"What do you mean you, like, can't teleport?" Kitty asked hysterically. "How are we supposed to GET OUT OF HERE!" she screamed the last part out towards the dark room in anger. Only her echo bounced off of the walls, silence coming again. 

"Keety, I mean ve can't teleport. I don't know vhat is wrong, but I just can't," Kurt explained in a hurried panic. Fear inching in every word he spoke. 

"Ok, let's try to be calm and rational about this. Kurt can't teleport, we're in a really dark room, that we know for some reason, isn't the kitchen and…." Scott trailed off his sentence when he heard a soft noise. "Scott, like, what is it?" Kitty asked, helplessly clinging to both him and Kurt by their sleeves. 

"Shh, listen," Scott said and put a finger to his lips. He knew his friends couldn't see him, but he did it anyway. Another soft noise filled the room in an echo. In an instant, light sparked the room and they all covered their eyes. Torches along every inch on the lining of the wall magically lit as the light swept over the room like a broom quickly dusting up any known particles. 

"Zis is really creeping me out!" Kurt slowly whispered. Scott and Kitty immediately stood up, dragging Kurt to his feet also. Kitty exclaimed. 

Scott ran over to the far side of the wall. Now that the room was completely lit, he looked around trying to find a way out. There seemed to be absolutely nothing. Not a single exit out of the room. Now that he actually thought about it and took it in; the room was pretty dusty and looked really fancy with rich colored brown walls and old furniture put to the side of the room. Old paintings hung across the elegantly styled walls of the room. Some even dated back to 1703, Scott noticed. The professor had told him once that this mansion had been built in the late 1600's, but he had never mentioned that there were other rooms that he didn't know about. 

Kurt sat down, trying to concentrate and help his friends find a way out of here, but he couldn't. His stomach growled in hunger. That was the reason why. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten something. He rubbed his stomach as Kitty bent over and looked him square in the face, fear in her now wide, blue eyes. "Keety, you vouldn't have anyzing to eat, vould you?" he asked, a smile playing on his face. 

"Kurt!!" Kitty threw up her hands and paced around him. She began to make Kurt dizzy. "How can you, like, think of your stomach in a time like this?" 

"Sorry, ja?!" Kurt replied in his defense. He stood up and laid his three fingered hands on Kitty's shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. He turned her around and looked at her. "Keety, it's going to be ok." 

Kitty opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, a soft clicking noise was heard. She turned to find Scott fiddling with one of the torches. "Scott, what are you, like, doing?" 

Scott didn't reply, he just continued to mess with the torch. He moved the torch again and it went back to it's original place while they heard a clicking sound from somewhere else in the room. 

Kitty and Kurt looked at him oddly. Scott just stared back at them and gave his usual half smile. He laughed, which caused Kurt and Kitty to look at him even more strangely. "Vhat is so funny about ze torch?" 

"Oh, nothing. Except for the fact that I think I found us a way outta here." Scott pointed to the corner of the room. Kitty and Kurt followed his gaze and their eyes rested on a rectangular shape in the top corner of the room. They heard Scott move the torch again and the rectangular like door opened by itself. They all smiled at each other, happy for the first time since they came to. The door was their gate to freedom. 

________________________________________________________________________

The three high school boys opened the gate to the mansion and smiled to each other when they saw that the lights in the entire mansion were out. They had left the mansion grounds with the smell of revenge looming in the air. They weren't about to be beaten at their own game. The mutants would pay. Slowly, they opened the tall, metal gates. They would have their revenge yet. The mutants would pay for what they did. No freak shows were going to outsmart them and get away with it. Soon. Soon…

________________________________________________________________________

Tabitha gulped back the huge amount of saliva now making it's way into her throat. She couldn't panic. Not now; not when three pale beings were coming towards them in the absolute darkness. Not when the candle's flame had just burnt out; not when she couldn't find the box of matches and the spare candle that she had taken with her in case of an emergency; not when they were the only group of people left here. No, she couldn't panic at all. 

Another gust of wind blew past them and Tabitha whirled around towards the noise that was becoming louder and louder, getting closer and closer until she could hear it along with the fast beating rhythm of her terrified heart. She heard Amara, Jamie, Amanda, and even Lance scream at the top of their lungs. At those sounds, she dove her hand into her pocket once again and tried to find the box of matches. She closed her eyes and reopened them, trying her hardest to keep herself in check. The others needed her and she couldn't give up on them now. Tabitha's head shot up when she heard three heavy breaths and three loud moans. It was the ghosts. Or, at least she thought that they were ghosts. She didn't get the chance to get a good glimpse at them. 

Amara stood a couple of feet away from Tabitha. She also heard her fishing through her pockets, desperately trying to find the candle and spare box of matches. Amara bit her lip. She felt guilty for not being able to use her mutant abilities and help light the way for all of her friends while trying to fight away these, these…creatures. Amara widened her eyes as an idea sprung into her head. Why hadn't she thought of this sooner. The ghosts had seemed solid enough for the group to touch, or at least she hoped so. They would fight them off. They were perfectly trained by the best, maybe excluding Amanda, but she could also help out. It was the perfect plan: they would fight, and also buy Tabitha some time while she kept searching. 

Immediately switching into combat mode, Amara looked towards Tabitha through the dark. "Tabitha, keep looking. I have the perfect idea."

Tabitha shook her head. Had she heard that correctly. Amara was taking charge. She thought that Amara had been scared out of her wits. Apparently, she was willing to overcome that fear and help out. Tabitha didn't know what that 'perfect idea' was, that is, until she heard the first punch. Tabitha finally found the box of matches and pulled them out. "That's my girl." She fished around some more and found the candle. So happy that she finally found it that she turned around too fast and a soft wind blew it out of her hand. Tabitha cursed under her breath and bent down to find the candle. 

Lance slapped his fists together and jumped the figure that was closest to him. He really didn't know what he was aiming at, but he figured the worst thing that could happen was that he'd punch a group member, or slam his fist into a wall. Without even thinking, he did what he unconsciously always did. He rolled his eyes towards the back of his head and pulled his fists forward. Nothing happened. "What the hell?" He tried again. Still the same result. Lance couldn't even feel the headache that usually came when he used his power. Before he could realize what was happening, something hard grasped the sides of his neck and began to press harder. It was getting harder to breathe. The figure laughed and Lance thought that he recognized it, but didn't want to think about it before he aimed his fist straight ahead and into his attacker. 

Jamie was running for his life. When Amara had told him that they were going into hand to hand combat, he thought she was crazy. But, then he realized that she wasn't joking. Not at all. Jamie ran straight towards the end of the hall. He really didn't know if he was still in the hall, but that didn't matter when he felt something reach for him. Jamie screamed for dear life. He tripped and fell, the figure still holding tightly to his leg. The strange figure made an eerie, creepy noise, like that of a ghost in a movie. Jamie had seen too many of those to know good and well what was going to happen next. "LET GO OF ME!" The ghostly figure didn't seem to be listening as it tightened it's grip on Jamie's leg. Without thinking Jamie kicked forward and the figure detached itself from him and hit the wall with a loud thump behind it. Jamie grinned in the still darkness at his success and moved in to fend off the figure until, of course, he heard a shrill bloodthirsty sound behind him. He gulped down his fear and before he knew, he was struggling to try and get out of a bundle of rope while the attacker stood back and laughed in a high pitched tone. 

Amara was one step away from completely getting angry. She was beyond fear, more in the playing field of being extremely terrified. Her emotions were encased with suspicion and anger all mixed in together. Together, that mix would cause her to go over the edge. More than once tonight she had just wanted to scream at the top of her lungs and find out what was going on. Amara shook her head as she pounded the figure with her fists of fury. Amara jerked her head when she suddenly heard an abrupt scream, but she decided to ignore it and continue fighting. She automatically felt odd about fighting beings that looked like ghosts, but felt like any other ordinary person. Solid. Solid to the core. Amara closed her eyes and reached out in front of her. Suddenly there was a large flash and a flash of light behind her closed eyelids. Amara immediately opened her eyes and saw a candle burning near the far end of the hall. Tabitha. An arm lunged at her and all Amara knew was that in a second she was on the floor. She kept kicking and screaming. "AHHH!!" The figure wouldn't leave her alone. Amara widened her eyes as the figure moved in and her screams were nothing but a muffled sound. 

Tabitha couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her group was fighting off the figures whom she had definitely started calling ghosts. They were fighting them. And all along she had thought that ghosts were transparent. Tabitha turned around as she heard someone give out an evil laugh. It was one of the figures. He was bending down and laughing cynically in Amara's face. Tabitha was scared, but her anger towards what was going on got the best of her and she stormed over to it, the long candle brightly lit in her hand. When she stalked over and stopped, she realized that the figure hadn't noticed that she was standing there. Amara had a look of extreme fear on her features; Tabitha's mouth formed slowly into a smile. Amara looked at her with wide eyes. The figure had cornered her and held a firm grip on her arm. Amara looked at Tabitha like she was crazy. Why was she laughing? This wasn't supposed to be funny, was it? But to Amara's unnoticed eye, Tabitha saw something she didn't. 

Tabitha smiled coyly again and reached for the figure. She noticed the figure had something hooked to it's neck and that it separated the head from the shoulders. Rope, she assumed. Luckily for her, the figure hadn't noticed the sudden brightness of the hallway. Just when she was close enough to it, the figure turned on her. It roared in her face and Tabitha almost dropped the candle out of fear. It held her wrist tightly and Tabitha motioned her eyes in fear towards the figure's neck to Amara. Amara looked at the figure's neck and also noticed it. She smiled and moved her hands towards the neck of the figure. Amara snapped the rope like thing and pulled off what looked like a mask in the dimness. Wait a minute? Mask? Were ghosts supposed to have masks?

A couple of feet away, Lance and Jamie saw what Amara and Tabitha were doing and imitated their actions. They all gaped at what they saw. No, it couldn't be, could it? Tabitha opened and closed her mouth. This was so unreal; they all couldn't believe who was standing in front of them as the three figures smiled wickedly; all too familiar smiles.

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	7. Chapter Six

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Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. Just borrowing them for mine and others' entertainment. They belong to Marvel and the Kid's WB. This is purely out of writing enjoyment.

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Author's Note: Hey again! I'm back! Sorry I haven't been updating a lot quicker! For awhile there, I kinda lost my dedication to this story - but I promise you I never leave any of my stories undone! I've been really busy with school lately and midterms are this week so the next chapter might take awhile longer, but I will try as hard as I can to get it out sooner! So I will finish this - I was trying to make this a really good chapter with the impact and all… you'll see! Whew…lol, anywho, enough of my ramblings (and I thought I had nothing to say!) Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter - they are still greatly appreciated…and for those who are forgetting to review; I'm not trying to be picky or force you too, but I just want to know what y'all think! So please review this chapter, k! Anywho, I need to stop talking and get on with the show already! Sorry about that! Read, Review, and *ENJOY!* ^__^

Dee Saylors: Thanks again for another review! Y'know you are the most dedicated reviewer I have…thanks a lot, you're reviews really make my day to know that you're still enjoying this story! Thanks! ^__^

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Lily Knotwise of Michel D: Now you know I can't just tell you who the three figures are! You have to guess and I promise the wait for that is over anyhow…this chapter hopefully reveals all!! Thanks for the great reviews and glad you're still enjoying it! ^__^

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Fright Fest

By: pinkchick

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Chapter 6

"Pull me up higher, wouldja?" Kitty asked as she balanced herself calmly. She had no idea why she was doing this to begin with. 

"I'm trying, ok," Scott replied as he gritted his teeth and pushed his body up further. Kitty was trying to reach up to the corner to see if she could see through the structure that looked like a door or open it. Scott was trying his best to keep her balanced, but she kept on moving. "Would you stop moving your feet, please?" he asked as he gripped her ankles even harder to keep her from falling. Kurt sat on the floor next to them, apparently amused at what his friends were attempting to do. "Just a little further, ja?!" Kurt asked, a sloppy grin on his furry, blue features. 

Scott stopped trying to pull Kitty up and they both turned to give him a glare. "Shut up, Kurt!" they both snapped in unison. 

Kurt put his hands up defensively. After the two stopped glaring and returned to what they had been doing before, Kurt grinned again. He just couldn't help it. Then his mind returned to the situation that they were currently positioned in and the grin disappeared from his face. It was replaced with a look of confusion and fear. He looked up at Scott and Kitty again as they both struggled to get the door at the top corner open. So far, it hadn't budged. Since he couldn't help them out with this, Kurt decided to search the room and maybe find an alternative way out instead. He picked himself up off of the floor and walked around towards the nearest wall. 

Kurt again noticed all of the paintings that were hanging there. It was awkward that Professor Xavier had all these ancestors and he never seemed to mention any of them. He also failed to mention this room. Kurt sighed and walked down the side of the wall. He traced his finger along the sides as he walked. Something caught his eye and he stopped walking. Kurt turned to stare at the painting hanging before his very eyes. His mouth fell and he just stood there - speechless. The painting in front of him consisted of a man and five children. There was something very familiar about the children. 

Across the other side of the room, Kitty and Scott still struggled to open the latch, but obviously to no avail. Then suddenly, Kitty squealed. "I think I, like, got it!" 

"Really?" Scott asked. He steadied her even more as kept a firm hold on her feet; the same feet that were digging into his shoulders. Scott bit his lip. He heard her try and snap it open, but then she started swaying and he couldn't hold her anymore. Scott's knees painfully gave way from under him as he heard Kitty give a shriek and they collapsed to the dusty floor beneath them. 

"That was graceful," Scott stated in sarcasm as he rubbed his knees and shoulders painfully. He turned and looked at Kitty. "You ok?"

Kitty twisted her mouth and got up from on top of Scott's feet. "Yeah, I think you, like, broke my fall again." She gave him a half smile and they helped each other up. "So, like, how are we gonna get out of here now?" 

"I think I have an idea that I should've used before, but first we--" 

"Scott! Keety! Zis is very creepy! Come here quick!" Kurt exclaimed as he called over his two friends to come over and join him. When Scott and Kitty reached his side and looked at him in confusion, Kurt just pointed at the painting he had been looking at. Scott and Kitty did as they were instructed to and looked at the picture. There in the picture were exact replicas of Scott, Jean, Rogue, Kurt, and Kitty in younger, old fashioned versions. The three friends just gaped at the picture and then at each other. As they continued to stare, they're eyes moved down to look at the date of the painting: 1703. 

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The candle's dim light illuminated the hallway and seemed to transfix itself on the three figures in front of the remaining group of people on that floor. Tabitha, Amara, Lance, and Jamie just stared wide eyed at the three ghosts - or rather mutants in front of them. Tabitha was the first to recover as she blinked her eyes. 

"Bobby!" she exclaimed, her throat still raw from being so silent before. 

"Ray!" Amara was next to recover as she did a double take on the young man with blond and orange hair in front of her. 

"Sam!" Jamie squeaked as his eyes widened even more. 

It was amazing - standing in front of them were indeed Bobby, Ray, and Sam. The three shrugged at their friends. They all had a sloppy grin on their faces and a bright light that was flickering in their eyes; as though they had just achieved something. Bobby's smile broadened at the sight of the surprise in their features and their expressions. But when their features turned into that of anger instead of fear, Bobby's grin disappeared. He started backing up along the side of the hall, his hands up in his defense against the four angry people in front of him. 

"C'mon, guys! I bet you were really surprised weren't you? Scared too, I bet!" Bobby laughed nervously. "I swear, it was just supposed to be a prank, I promise! We didn't mean any harm to anyone, really. You, uh, believe us…don't you?"

Tabitha's fist clenched tighter as she advanced towards them, motioning for the rest to follow her. They closed the gap between themselves and the three so called ghosts. Bobby, Ray, and Sam backed up into the wall behind them. By then, they had dropped their white costumes and their eyes were wide with genuine fear. Irony as it would seem that the three trying to scare were being scared themselves. 

"Oh, yeah, Bobby. We believe you," Tabitha sneered at him. 

"Guys, really, it wasn't supposed to be this way. You know we would never want to hurt you. Honest!" Bobby pleaded with the group as they backed him and the rest of the 'ghosts' into the wall. 

Tabitha, Lance, and Jamie inched ever closer with a look on their faces that could kill. They had been scared to death, half of the time thinking that it was some mystical creature, only to find out that it had only been Bobby, Ray, and Sam. The three, conniving, scheming, lying, pathetic, evil doing trio that called themselves mature mutants. They had definitely had enough. When they were close enough to the three now terrified boys, they grinned evilly, but a spiraling shout stopped them cold in their tracks. They all turned around to come face to face with a bright red Amara, who in the dim candlelight that bounced off of the walls, looked like she was going to explode with rage. 

"STOP IT!" Amara cried. "Do you realize how pathetic we're being?" 

"Excuse me?!" Tabitha inquired, talking to Amara from behind her but keeping her narrowed eyes trained on the impishly pale Bobby in front of her. "Pathetic?! Amara! We're just gonna give these guys what they deserve after what they did to us!" 

"But Tabitha look at them." Amara pointed to the frightened and now sweating trio in front of her best friend. Now, Amara didn't necessarily like what they had done to them. Okay, she didn't like it at all, but someone had to be the voice of reason; and if it were going to be her, then so be it. By beating on Bobby, Ray, and Sam and scaring them, they were being just as pathetic as the boys who were in on trying to pull some sort of insipid prank. She had to put a stop to this before someone gets hurt unintentionally. "If we scare them, we're being just as bad as they have been."

Tabitha raised her fist and gritted her teeth as Bobby shut his eyes, scrunching his face to wait for the first blow. It never came. When Bobby opened his eyes he believed he had been saved by someone who really loves him up there; Tabitha was still standing in front of him, but she had lowered her hand. Bobby breathed a sigh of relief and pushed past her to stand next to Amara, Jamie, and Lance. He gave Lance a closer look, then raised his eyebrows at the Brotherhood member. "Hey! What are you doing here?" 

Lance brushed him off and continued looking forward. "Long story." He then turned to Bobby and glared at him. "What made you think of pulling this prank off anyways?" 

"Heh, I just figured that the adults were out, so, uh, why not have some fun, right?" Bobby answered. He still received a glare and Bobby gulped. 

"Yeah, ok, whatever! Now, c'mon, where's everyone else?" Jamie asked them. The three just shrugged. "I know you guys took them so we would assume that they had disappeared. C'mon guys, pranks over. You can come out now!" 

"Jamie, man. What are you talking about?" Ray asked him, moving over to where the younger boy was standing. 

"Don't play dumb with us. We know you have everyone else. You can tell them they can stop hiding now!" Jamie stated. 

Sam gave him a confused look. "Jamie, we really don't know what you're talking about. Honest." 

"Wait a minute. You mean to tell us that everyone is missing and you don't know where they disappeared to?" Ray asked incredulously. 

"Not exactly!" Tabitha exclaimed. She lowered her eyes towards the floor. She was trying not to panic - this just couldn't be happening. If Bobby, Ray, and Sam were telling the truth, than something was terribly wrong. She was more in shock than she was showing visibly. Her heart wrenched and she began slightly shaking. "We figured that everyone was in on your prank because Scott, Kitty, and Kurt were the first to disappear. They went to get some flashlights and they never came back." 

Bobby gulped. He didn't know what to make of this. Almost all of his friends were missing and he was trying to pull some stupid prank just for the fun of it. In all honesty, he didn't know what went on after he, Ray, and Sam left. The really freaky thing about it is that when they went to short out the electricity, the wires had already been snapped. He wandered closer to the group now. "Wh-who else is missing?" 

"Everyone who's not here. Jean, Rogue, Roberto…" 

"And Amanda!" Amara cried out in fear. Her cry pierced the air as she cut Tabitha off and everyone turned to look at her. The dim candle's light was still casting eerie shadows across the wall, letting them move in a strange and pivoted motion. Amara widened her eyes in sudden realization. Amanda was no longer with them. It was strange - no one had heard her disappear. Not again. They couldn't have lost another person, not now. Her eyes widened even more in dawning as she came to the realization that she had heard a scream while they were trying to fight off the boys. 

"Amanda was here?!" Bobby asked. Jamie nodded. This was just perfect. Not only were they losing mutants, but they also had a normal human missing too. With any luck, in Bobby's negative mind, they'd all end up on the six o'clock news with a headline that read: 'Mutants Involved in Witchcraft Kill off Human'. Bobby shook his head. No, he couldn't think like that. They weren't going to die - not if he could help it. 

Everyone's eyes glanced across the entire hallway. Back and forth their eyes scanned in search for the only human that would ever bother to step foot in their home. As the flame licked at the tip of the candle, everyone's fears were confirmed. Amanda was nowhere to be found. Before anyone could utter a word a loud crash was heard from the end of the hall. Everybody jumped at the sound and immediately grouped together. If the saying is true then safety in numbers is the best plan they all had right about now. 

At the end of the hallway there stood a large dark shadowy creature. It looked to be the same one that attacked Jamie, Amara, and Tabitha before; but this time, it was twice as large. As the group gaped at it, they started to back away. The shadow didn't look very happy. Everyone clung to each other for dear life until the unthinkable happened. Bobby stopped moving and stepped forward. They all gaped at him. He didn't look terrified; in fact, he had a smile plastered on his face and with a renowned confidence he moved closer to the figure. 

"Bobby! Whaddya think you're doing?!" Amara practically screeched. 

Bobby's smile widened as he moved closer. "It's ok Amara, I know what I'm doing!" Now only a couple of feet away, Bobby stopped in his tracks. "Ok Roberto. Prank's over, you can come out now!" Bobby waited for Roberto to answer, but no reply came. 

"Bobby… I don't think that that's Roberto," Jamie whispered from behind him. 

"Of course it is. Roberto was in on the prank the whole time!" Bobby smirked. Tabitha rolled her eyes behind him in annoyance. "Roberto, c'mon, man. The prank's over, you can take that stupid black blanket off now." Still no reply. 

Bobby's smile slowly disappeared as the shadowy figure moved closer. Bobby gulped. "Roberto! This isn't funny, man! Prank's over!" The figure still didn't respond and inched a few steps closer. The black shadow was not Roberto at all. Everyone behind him widened their eyes in fear. Bobby was ready to turn around and run when the black figure circled around him. Before Bobby knew what was happening, he let out a terrified scream and disappeared amongst the black shadow. 

The shadow seemed to smile in satisfaction, even though it didn't really have a face. It was just black, a swirling evil darkness. Looking down at where Bobby had just been, it glanced back up at the group of teenagers before it. It moved closer to them, so close that it could taste their fear. 

The six teens gaped at what they had just seen. The black shadow had seemed to just swallow Bobby up. Still in shock over what had happened to their friend, they did not notice the eerie black figure approaching to finish it's job. By the time the teens fully took in what was happening, they were engulfed by pure darkness. The shadow creature drowned out their piercing screams as they all, including the black shadow, disappeared into thin air. The candle's flame died as the wind blew, lightning struck, thunder clattered, and the rain began to fall. 

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	8. Chapter Seven

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Disclaimer: I don't own them! They are strictly owned by Marvel and Kid's WB. 

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Author's Note: Hey it's me once again! I know you're probably getting sick of this, of me I mean!! Thanks once again to all those who reviewed last chapter - they are still appreciated. Wow, 20 reviews. That's great! You guys are great and I hope this chapter is what you expect it to be…I didn't really think I'd post this soon, but I got a couple of snow days with no homework and I figured it's the least I could do seeming that you guys left me some great reviews. It helped me write this chapter to know that you guys are liking this story! Well, enough ramblings for now…bye for now and enjoy this chapter, I put myself in suspense writing it!! So review and tell me what you think! Read, Review, and *ENJOY!*

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Sweet-Destiny3: Thank you for your continuing support and enthusiasm towards this story. I really appreciate every single thing. Because of my lack of laziness this week, I mass produced this chapter and I didn't get up 'til I was done. See, I can surprise you! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Dee Saylors: Hey again! And to answer your question, yes, your reviews do mean a lot. From everyone and especially you because you have reviewed every single chapter from the beginning and I appreciate it! And hopefully you'll still think this is good - I worked hard on this chapter!! Enjoy it! 

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Lily Knotwise of Michel D: Yes, I like to keep my readers in suspense…good cliffhangers and stuff like that are great but I know I keep you waiting! To have more questions is a good thing, they'll all be answered eventually I promise and thank you for your great reviews! Enjoy this chapter! 

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Sweet Like Chocolate: Thank you for reviewing this story! You're stories are great too and I want to apologize for not leaving a review for "Reunion" chapter 5, but I read it - it's still great and keep up the great work!! Enjoy!

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Anon: Hey, and welcome! I'm glad you like this story! Well, I have to apologize in advance because unfortunately in this story there will be no appearance by the Acolytes. This is just on the characters living in the mansion, Amanda, and Lance! Hehe, anywho, thanks for reviewing and enjoy this chapter! BTW, you could leave your email if you want so that when I update I can email you! Enjoy! 

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Fright Fest

By: pinkchick

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Chapter 7

"Take that you stupid muties!" A teenage boy called out as he threw eggs at the Xavier Institute. "C'mon out you freaks. You guys think you're so tough, huh?!" 

The boy's other two companions joined him in their little mission as they continued to throw eggs at the mansion. The thunder shook the earth as the three teens completed their task and smirked inwardly at what they had done. This would teach those mutants not to mess with them. Who did they think they were anyway? This was their town and they weren't going to allow mutants to take over. Never. 

All of a sudden the three teens jumped when a spark of electricity showered the sky and filtered them with enough light to see something unbelievable. Above them and around the house stood a shiny barrier. The boys widened their eyes. They couldn't believe it; the barrier looked like pure energy filtering around the house as if to block them out. As the boys continued looking on in pure amazement. The eggs that they had just finished throwing mere seconds ago were lying on the ground in front of the front entrance. They hadn't hit the house for some reason. Apparently, the eggs had hit the barrier and came crashing down towards the hard earth. 

The teens widened their eyes some more as the barrier began to glow and come towards them. They immediately picked themselves up and started running for the gates. This was beyond freaky. As they jumped the gates once more and ran for their bikes, they turned to look at the mansion one last time. The barrier had stopped glowing like it had before and as the rain started to fall, the boys thought they saw a large black shadow figure. Without looking back they ran away screaming as the shadow figure smiled eerily. 

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The rain hit the ground like a ton of bricks. It shattered the unearthly silence that swept the deep shadowy cellar. There was some light creeping in from an anonymous source as the two figures lay in the middle of the room. It had been quite a terrifying fall for the two girls. Something none of them had ever experienced; and now they were in a room that they had never seen before. Jean and Rogue sat up immediately as they heard a noise coming from somewhere near, yet far away at the same time. 

Jean rubbed her eyes and tried to adjust to the lack of light in the room. She shivered from the cold and placed her hands around her shoulders. _Oh great_, she thought to herself as she peered around the room and then back at Rogue. _This is getting from bad to worse_. She shivered again. This was not good, not good at all. As soon as she started thinking back on the situation, her thoughts reverted back to what had happened in the kitchen. She closed her eyes and tried to stay calm. When Jean opened her eyes once again, a single thought and name came to her lips in a silent echo. "Scott," she whispered slowly. "Where are you?" 

Rogue squinted her eyes. She sighed heavily as she glanced around the room. This wasn't turning out to be the greatest night ever. Then Rogue immediately closed her eyes and there it was: the vision of the ghostly girl. Her sad features played over in her mind over and over again. Rogue couldn't help but feel that this girl was here for some reason and that she was somehow saddened. The vision disappeared and Rogue slowly opened her eyes. She tapped Jean on the shoulder next to her and the older girl jumped in fear. Finally realizing that it was just Rogue she calmed down. Rogue and Jean had to find their way out of here. Quickly. 

"Jean? Do ya, uh, happen ta know where we are?!" Rogue asked, fiddling with her gloves as she turned to stare at Jean. In the dimness of the mysterious light, she saw her shake her head. 

"No," Jean replied. "I've never seen this place before in my life." 

"That's just perfect!" Rogue threw up her hands. She scanned the room once more. In the corner of the small room, which in any case would make Storm claustrophobic, there was a doorknob sticking out of the wall. Just as she was about to go see what it was she heard Jean get up. Rogue heard her wiping off all of the dust particles that had washed over the room. Apparently, Rogue figured, this room was really old. 

"I think I found something," Jean said as the moved away from Rogue and towards her find. She heard Rogue mumble that she had found something also, but Jean couldn't be sure. She was pressed on figuring out the object that she had found in the near corner of the room. It glowed and as she got closer she could make out it's faded appearance from the shadows. "Rogue!" she called. "I found the flashlight. It still works." 

"Good," Rogue stated. At least they had some source of light. "Bring it over, ah think ah may have found tha way out."

________________________________________________________________________

"No way! This is getting, like, seriously creepy!" Kitty exclaimed. She was still standing there, unmoving as her eyes scanned the painting in front of her. This was just too weird. The pretty girl with haunting blue eyes stared back at her. Kitty still couldn't get over the resemblance between them. In fact, the resemblance between all of them was quite uncanny that it was scary. Kitty grabbed the shirt sleeves of Scott and Kurt and pulled them back with her. Far away from the painting. "You guys, we, like, have to find a way out of here." 

Scott was the first to snap out of the still gaze he had fixated on the old painting. It sent goosebumps down his spine just looking at it. He had to come back to reality and find a way out of here. Frankly, he didn't want to know why the boy with brown hair in the picture looked exactly like himself. It scared him to think that there even was a time when that boy actually existed. Shaking his head he turned to Kitty and then towards the wall that was closest to them. They were going to get out of here. He was going to find a way out of here. Before actually formulating a plan, his mind reverted back to before they got here. It hadn't crossed Scott's mind that everyone else was still somewhere upstairs wondering where they could've gone. He closed his eyes and thought of the only calming thing at the moment: Jean. 

"I think I know a way out of here." Scott pointed to his glasses and then turned his head towards the far wall. He quirked a smile and received a knowing smile from Kitty.

"Are you sure it would, like, work?" Kitty asked. Scott pondered the thought before Kitty continued. "I mean Kurt couldn't, like, teleport before."

"I know," Scott told her. He then shrugged his shoulders as he finally realized the fear in Kitty's voice when she had asked that question. There was no way to be sure that all their powers didn't work. Kitty couldn't phase because quite frankly they didn't even know where they were. They'd end up in some wall or room, lost. Scott could at least give it a shot. It was a chance he had to take. "I could at least try," Scott reassured. 

Kitty gave a nod. "Ok." She then turned to her blue furred friend. 

Kurt was still staring unblinkingly at the painting. He seemed to be in some sort of trance. Kitty tugged at his arm but he wouldn't budge. His own thoughts seemed not of his own, but of someone else's. Someone not of this time. With a direct pull of the tale from Kitty, Kurt snapped out of his reverie and came back to reality. Kitty and Scott looked at him with concerned faces. "Are you ok, Kurt?" Scott asked. 

"Vhat? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Kurt answered, although not completely sure of his answer himself. For a moment while looking at his two friends, he thought he saw them as two complete strangers. Yet, they were familiar somehow. Then the feeling washed away and they went back to just being Kitty and Scott. Two of his very best friends. Kurt scratched the back of his head and turned to stand next to Kitty. "How are ve going to get out of here?" 

For the first time since this whole fiasco started happening, Kitty felt the need to turn to her usual perkiness and chastise her furry blue friend. "Kurt, like, have you not been paying any attention?!" 

Kitty didn't wait for an answer from him, she just continued rambling. "Scott's gonna, like, blast through the wall." 

"Zat's vhat I'm talking about man," Kurt said and gave Scott a pat on the back. "Zis place is really becoming eerily creepy, even for me." 

"I figured you'd say that." Scott smiled. He actually smiled. A real, genuine smile. He hadn't felt the need to smile about anything ever since they found themselves down here. The lights in the room somehow started glowing brighter and they all jumped. The smile on Scott's face faded away into nothingness as it was replaced by his typical scowl and responsible, determined face. 

"Please, Scott. Tell me _you _did zat," Kurt whispered. His yellow eyes adjusting to the now brighter light in the room. Scott didn't move, he just moved closer to the painting that they had tried to stay far away from. "Scott?! _Please_ tell me zat vas you." 

Scott didn't seem as though he was listening at all. Kitty grabbed his shirt and tried to pull him back, but he just kept walking towards the painting. Closer and closer. "Scott! Like, what're you doing?" 

Scott didn't answer and Kitty and Kurt followed his movements so they were standing behind him. He tilted his head when he was mere inches from the painting. Kurt and Kitty stared at each other in fear, then at Scott, and lastly at the painting. The torch's lights began to fade away and then brighten by themselves. They flickered back and forth as though they were dancing around and around. They cast long shadows on the wall in a perpetual darkness now that could not be suppressed. 

The three of them just stood there, now entranced by the peculiar painting that sparked curiosity in each of their bones. They wanted to know more. They wanted to unlock the secrets that lay behind the painting - something that was far beyond the timeline of the present in which they lived. The more they peered closer, the closer they all felt to the people whose memory is only left within the painting. In a flash, the young brown haired girl with ghostly white features appeared transparently in the painting. Scott, Kitty, and Kurt backed away slowly in fear with all their eyes wide. The girl's eyes moved back and forth as they covered the young face of the girl who resembled Kitty. Her hand extended forward and towards the trio as they continued to move back. Tilting her head, the girl moved her hand closer to Kitty as she screamed and pushed back farther. 

Scott, Kitty, and Kurt screamed in utter and complete terror. Without looking back, they ran towards the far wall. The fear was building up within them as they found an escape from the dire circumstances they had been placed in. This was getting out of hand and they definitely needed to get out of here before something terrible happened. Scott lifted his glasses and at first nothing happened. No red optic beams shot out dangerously from his eyes. No sound of the wall exploding into smithereens. Nothing. 

"Vhat's wrong?!" Kurt shouted over to Scott who was attempting to use every bit of strength he had to make his power work. Now was not the time for it to finally shut off. 

"My power! It won't work!" Scott practically shouted back. The room's lights flickered around some more as something else happened. The ghostly girl stepped out of the picture and started walking towards them. Slowly, but she seemed to close the gap between her and the three teens rather quickly. 

"Like, hurry Scott!" Kitty yelled. "She's gaining on us!" 

Out of sheer force of will and with one look from the ghostly looking girl, his eyes erupted a bright crimson beam and the wall crumbled instantly. Kurt and Kitty stepped over the now wrecked wall. It had been shattered to pieces. Just as Scott was adjusting the glasses back onto his face, something threw them out of his grasp. Before he could realize what had happened another crimson beam shot out towards where Kitty and Kurt were now standing. He immediately retaliated and shut his eyes tightly. He pulled his arms up over them and tripped over one of the crumbled pieces of stone that was now lying on the floor in front of him. He landed on his back when a resounding pain shot through his left shoulder. 

Kurt was the first to notice the red beam shooting their way and pushed himself and Kitty out of Scott's powerful blast. "Scott! Like, what's wrong? Come on. We have to, like, get out of here NOW!" 

"My glasses! I can't find them!" Scott shouted amongst the breaking of the rubble beneath him. He moved his arm around the floor in search for his glasses, but he couldn't find them. He tried to get up from among the debris but another pain seared through his shoulder like a red hot poker. He grabbed his shoulder with his right hand and kept the scream of agony clenched inside. Scott still kept his eyes tightly clasped shut. He would not hurt his friends. The deathly pale girl advanced closer. Her brown hair moving softly around her pale features. She wasn't even walking. The girl was floating above the ground and moving closer with every movement. Her white nightgown flowed around with her as she advanced. 

Kurt and Kitty let out piercing screams that filtered the dark hallway that they now seemed to be standing in outside of the room that they had been in. They both noticed the girl advancing closer. "Scott!" Kitty screamed. She grabbed Kurt's three fingered hand and climbed over the stone and debris that now littered the floor that was once very smooth. As soon as Kitty and Kurt neared Scott and the ghostly girl, she backed away and with a strange moaning sound she vanished, leaving behind her a wave in the air where she had once been. Kitty stopped in her tracks for a moment, noticing that the girl still had a saddened demeanor. She snapped back to the task at hand when the floor started to rumble beneath her feet. 

Glancing around her she bent down and picked up Scott's ruby quartz sunglasses and reached him. Kitty placed them back onto his face as he muttered a quick thank you. She and Kurt helped him up and the three of them ran for the other side of the crumbled wall as the floor beneath them started to fall out from under them. The fallen stone rocks began to lift by themselves and surround Scott, Kitty, and Kurt, blocking their exit. Scott lifted his glasses and blasted every stone that was in their way. The rumbling became louder as it pounded in each one of their ears. It pounded harder and harder until each of them grimaced at the intolerable sound. 

The floor began to give way and it began to split between where they were standing and the hallway which was now mere inches away. Between all the shaking and trying to escape their prison that held them there, the three teens felt themselves falling before the ceiling began to rattle and shake also. It started to cave unexpectedly and the only thing that came to Scott's mind around all of the chaos was one thing. "JUMP!" he shouted amongst all of the rumbling noises. That was what they all did. They jumped. 

The three of them landed with a hard thud against the stone floor in the dark hallway. The rumbling suddenly ceased and they all gazed at each other, eyes wide with fear and suspicion. The ghostly girl appeared beyond the rubble of the wall that once stood and stared at them with her eerie and saddened eyes. She tilted her head and reached out her hand. Within mere seconds, she disappeared once again. The torches in the room they had just exited died out and the wall began to rebuild itself. All by itself. As though it was doing this under some magic spell. The wall went back to it's normal state before Scott had blasted it to pieces. Scott, Kitty, and Kurt widened their eyes and gulped down the deep lump that had formed in all of their throats. 

"You guys saw zat, right?!" Kurt questioned them slowly. Scott and Kitty nodded as they gave each other one last glance before the floor crumbled beneath them once again and they fell into another deep, damp darkness. Their screams coming out only muffled sounds as they fell into the unknown without a single trace of light. Near by, yet far away, the thunder continued to crack as the rain stampeded harder onto the earth. 

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	9. Chapter Eight

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Disclaimer: I don't own them at all. They are strictly and legally owned by Marvel and Kid's WB (which I'm hoping will bring back the show soon). 

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Author's Note: Hey you guys! This chapter took a little longer to write. Well, unfortunately this story is coming to an end in two chapters. Yes, two more chapters and it'll all be over. Lately, though, I think I've been reading more stories than writing and that made me angry at myself. But, once again I'm back. When I really set my mind on doing something, I do finish it though. Oh and this chapter is just a little shorter than the others, but I promise the ninth will be longer! By the way, where was everyone last chapter? I didn't receive any of your comments about it and I became worried that you guys are getting bored of this story. I sure hope not, but either way, I will finish it. I hope you are able to review this story and honestly tell me what you think, it would make me very happy! Well, anywho, enough of my babbling and on with the show! Read, Review, and *ENJOY!*

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Sweet-destiny3: Hey again! Jeez, you writing that many stories has put to the challenge of trying to catch up to you - yeah, like that would ever happen! Thank you for your continued honesty and dedication. Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint - and oh, by the way, you're story made me cry but then of course reading "Do You Want To Play" had me falling off of my seat in laughter! You're nuts! Anyways, enjoy this chap! 

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Fright Fest

By: pinkchick

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Chapter 8

"It looks lahke a door ta me," Rogue said, squinting in the dim light that the flashlight gave out and looked to Jean who was standing next to her, peering at the doorway. Rogue placed a black gloved hand onto her hip and tilted her head. Sighing she walked closer to the door. This was getting annoying. How in the world did they get down here to begin with anyway? She couldn't really remember. It hurt her head to remember. She just kept seeing the ghostly girl. That's it. Nothing else. Placing her gloved hand onto what looked like a doorknob, Rogue turned it. 

It wouldn't budge. It was somehow stuck. Rogue huffed and pulled harder, but all of a sudden the knob gave her a shock and sent her flying backwards and into the back wall. Jean immediately ran over to her friend and placed the flashlight's light onto her figure. She widened her eyes for a second. The door had just flung Rogue back. It was as though there was some kind of shock. Jean bent down to Rogue's level and helped her sit up. "Are you ok?"

"Ah'm fahne," Rogue quickly stated. She looked at the black gloved hand that she had placed onto the doorknob and held it. She grimaced at the electrical shock that it still sent through her hand. "Ah think." 

"What happened? Wasn't that a knob?" Jean asked, looking over Rogue's gloved hand to make sure she was ok. She made sure she didn't touch her bare skin in the process. Checking over her once more, she concluded that Rogue was ok, it was just some slight shock. But what? 

"It _is _a knob, but it shocked me!" Rogue exclaimed. "It's lahke it's trahyin' ta keep us in here against our own will."

"What? The door has a mind of it's own?" Jean asked. She gulped back the fear and suspicion rising within her. Why was this happening to begin with? It was a question taunting her from the beginning. The first thing that came to her mind was that this place was haunted. But, did she really believe that? Jean had practically lived here all of her life and not once had any of these things happened before. The questions and thoughts raced through her mind like a car on a race track. They were too jumbled and she had to get back to the situation at hand; just thinking about it drove her crazy and sent her heart beating even faster than it had been before. 

"Maybe," Rogue said. "Wait a minute, what am ah sayin'?" Rogue bopped herself on the forehead. What _was _she saying? The door could definitely not have a mind of it's own. Unless it was…possessed. She shook her head quickly. No, why was she thinking things like that. Rogue looked back up at Jean and then at the door. She decided that in a situation like this - she'll believe someone telling her that Kurt will one day become a monk. 

"Let's just get out of here," Jean suggested. 

"Alraght," Rogue said. 

Both girls walked over to the door and Jean laid the flashlight's glaring light onto it. Jean reached for the knob, but before she could properly place her hand on it, there was a noise coming from behind them. They both turned around and their eyes widened dramatically. Jean let the flashlight slip out of her now sweating hands. They both gulped back the panic rising in their throats. Jean and Rogue both started shaking visibly, out of fear or cold, they didn't know. They backed up until their backs hit the hard stone that was the door. 

The black shadow just stood there. And stared. In the dim of the light they noticed how odd looking it was. It was as if it was deformed in some way. The shadow was bulging on some sides and flat on the other. It was incredibly and uncharacteristically large. Jean and Rogue had both never before in their lives seen anything like this. They failed to move an inch or a muscle. It's as if the entire situation had them paralyzed from fear and panic floating over every inch of their bodies, even making it harder for the two girls to swallow. 

The black shadow figure continued to stand there. It swayed from side to side and the flashlight's gleaming glow made it look extremely deadly. It started lurching forward a bit. It stopped immediately and glared. Jean and Rogue were still too petrified to move. Their sudden paralysis seemed to wear off and Jean and Rogue began shaking visibly in their own skin. "D-d-do you see that?" Jean asked Rogue, still staring forward blankly, in no attempt to turn to her friend and look her in the face. 

"Uh-huh," Rogue stated roughly as she also continued to stare at the figure. It inched another step closer. The figure's body moved gracefully, yet ferociously in hunger across the small span of floor in front of it. Suddenly an idea struck Rogue. She curved her lips into a wry smile. "Jean," she whispered. 

Jean swallowed the deep lump in her throat and turned slowly towards Rogue. "W-what is it?" Jean questioned. The fear was visible in her words and her eyes as Rogue stared at her through the dim of the flashlight. 

"Ah have a plan," Rogue said and glanced at the flashlight lying mere inches away from them. "The flashlight, Jean. We need to get tha flashlight." 

"I know, we also need to get out of here," Jean answered back. She took another slow glance at the black shadowy figure and nodded in determination. "Now!" There was no way in telling what the creature was intending to do. Jean and Rogue didn't want to stay here long enough to find out. They looked to each other for a split second and without even uttering a word, knew what they were about to do. At that exact moment, Jean wished she could have used her telepathy. Even her telekinesis wasn't working. She sighed and closed her eyes. Fearing of the worst, horrible images flashed through her mind and she immediately snapped her eyes open again. She couldn't zone out and think like that at a bad time like this. Not when she and Rogue needed a quick exit out of this place. 

"Ah'll create a distraction, while you head for tha flashlaght," Rogue said. Jean nodded. Rogue was about to say something else when the creature lurched forward suddenly, inching very close to the two girls. In the distance, and also very near, the two girls thought they heard a loud rumble and deafening screams that eventually died out as the silence came back and hung over the room. Rogue and Jean turned towards each other with fear, concern, and most of all, suspicion in their eyes. Their hearts started pounding and they both nodded at each other. 

"Are ya ready?" Rogue asked, her voice still below what was a whisper.

"Yeah." Jean nodded. "On three, ok. One." Jean bent down and got ready to lung for the flashlight, her body shaking from nervousness. The black shadow was now only mere inches away from them. 

"Two," Rogue said, taking a quick glance at where the flashlight was laying and then gave a fearful glance towards the creature in front of her. Shaking away her fear, she got ready to execute her plan. She slowly peeled off the black glove on her right hand and narrowed her eyes, forgetting everything except her mission. 

"THREE!" Jean and Rogue shouted simultaneously. Jean immediately reached for the flashlight and she was a few centimeters away from grabbing it when it moved. It just moved, just like that. Jean reached for it again, but it moved away from her reach yet again. She looked up at the black figure that was looming over her. It had what seemed to look like a wicked devilish grin on it's dark and hideous features. The figure was turned away from Rogue. Apparently, it was focusing all of it's attention on keeping the flashlight away from Jean. She tried to grab for it once more, but to no avail whatsoever. 

Rogue smiled for the first time that night. They were actually getting somewhere. Maybe if she could just reach for the figure and attempt to touch it - although she highly doubted that it would do any good - things would be a little better. After all, how much more worse could it get? 

"Rogue!" Jean called from the floor. "I can't get the flashlight!" She pointed towards the black figure, who was still trying to get the flashlight away from Jean. "It's. Not. Letting. Me." Jean, in one last attempt, finally grabbed it, but it shocked her and sent her back towards the door to where she had been standing before. She grimaced and held her stomach in pain. 

Rogue watched the scene unfold before her in horror. That was it. That was the last straw. Rogue felt the rage build within her and she jumped forward in a last attempt to touch the black figure that was trying with all it's might to keep them contained within this room. "No one messes with the Rogue!" she shouted at before reaching her hand out to touch it. Closing her eyes, she waited for the impact of the physical contact to reach her. It never came. To Rogue's dismay, her hand went right through the black shadow figure and Rogue landed with a hard thud against the cold and dusty floor. She got up and moved towards where Jean was sitting. She placed her black glove back on immediately. 

"This is not good," she muttered to her. Jean nodded. The black figure smiled and lifted the flashlight from the ground. Before their own eyes, Jean and Rogue watched as it lurched it towards them. They both ducked away in time. The flashlight landed right beside them with a resounding crack. The light disappeared and they were shrouded in darkness once again. Unfortunately, this night could get a lot worse. 

Unbeknownst to Rogue and Jean, the black shadow creature moved towards them. It took it's time, there was definitely no need to rush these things. It's now large protruded body swayed back and forth with it, not noticing the extra weight. In fact, the figure enjoyed it. Nothing was more satisfactory than doing it's job and it had definitely succeeded before. Now, the figure only had a few more steps to victory. The dark side would win again. At that thought, the black shadow figure advanced more quickly. At first, it pondered why the two girls were so quiet. But then again, they were probably paralyzed with utter fear. That was what the black shadow wanted. It was perfect. 

As Jean and Rogue heard the figure creeping closer and closer, they both clung to each other for dear life. This was it, the end. They wouldn't even have the chance to say good bye to anyone. Never be able to see anyone again. The room was more deathly silent than ever. Each of them could hear their own breaths and panting. Their hearts pumped back and forth within their chests as if it were ready to explode. Sweat trickled down their face in tantalizing fear and the question of: what if? Jean and Rogue tried to slow down their breathing. They strained to hear the shadow figure, but it's movements were very slow and creepy. The two girls thought this was like some bad movie. Their doom was waiting at the corner and they were powerless to stop it. 

Jean and Rogue both clenched their eyes tightly shut and waited for it. They didn't know what the figure was going to do with them, but they knew that it wasn't good. Anything that looked that evil did not want to invite them out to lunch. It felt as though they were waiting there for eternity. Their end never came. Instead a sudden flash of light filtered the room and Jean and Rogue opened their eyes slowly. That was odd. The black shadow figure was no longer there. It had just vanished. Jean looked over to where the flashlight was still laying and noticed that it was still broken and lightless. Jean widened her eyes in disbelief. If the flashlight was broken, where on earth was the light coming from? 

Jean and Rogue sat up from their huddled position and looked around the small room. They glanced around a hundred times to take in the same surroundings that hadn't changed from a second ago. Then, they glanced at each other. "What happened?" Rogue asked, puzzled at what was going on. 

"I honestly don't know," Jean answered back. She was just as confused as Rogue was. There were so many unanswered questions and they didn't even know where to begin. In a rush of panic Jean tried to reach out to Scott or anyone telepathically, but nothing happened. They were stuck here without anyone or any help, and no hope of getting out. Slowly, the two girls started to get up. Before they could though, the black shadow appeared out of nowhere and swept around the huddled teens quickly. Rogue and Jean screamed at the top of their lungs, but they were drowned out. 

The black shadow kept circling them until it could smell and taste everything of their being - including their fear. The girls continued screaming because that was all that they could do; they were helpless. Another sound came from somewhere else in the room. It was another entity. The only thing that noticed was the shadow. It stopped circling Jean and Rogue and turned to stare at the new arrival. It unraveled it's evil from around the girls and faced the other presence completely. It was the ghostly girl, standing a few feet from the shadow with a glare that could kill. 

Jean and Rogue stopped screaming and looked past the figure to see something else standing there. No, it was someone else. The girl they had seen in the kitchen stood there looking eerily as usual, but more so. The girls watched as the two figures had what seemed like a staring contest. The ghostly girl narrowed her eyes at the shadow and stepped forward. The shadow did the exact same. All Jean and Rogue could do was stare. They tried to get up, but something was holding them back. They couldn't figure out what it was, nor did they want to know. The black shadow and the young girl continued just staring at each other, as though they had the rest of eternity to do it. 

The young girl seemed to contort her face into a sardonic stare and with an evil glare and one look back at Jean and Rogue, the black shadow disappeared without a trace that it was ever there. Jean and Rogue took a deep breath and looked at the ghostly girl. Their horror stricken faces didn't hid much, they were scared out of their wits. It was just getting to the point where lack of understanding and fear combined into one. The young girl just stared at them at first. Then, she started floating towards them. The closer she got the more Jean and Rogue clung to each other for safety. They had to get out of there, and quickly. 

Whatever was holding them back had released it's hold and the two teens jumped up and turned to the door behind them. Jean reached for it first, but paused. She didn't want to turn the knob for fear of getting shocked like Rogue had. But, it was a risk she was willing to make. Anything to get out f here and to safety. Rogue kept her eyes focused on the girl that was seemingly inching closer and closing the distance between them. "Jean, what are ya waiting for?" Rogue cried out. 

"I'm trying!" Jean gritted her teeth and pulled with all her might. "The door's not opening!" She wished she could have used her telekinesis right about now. That was hopeless and she had to focus on trying to get out like a normal person. Even that wasn't working at the moment. 

"Jean!" Rogue exclaimed. "Hurry!" The girl moved closer and closer. When she was close enough, she let out her hand for them to take. Rogue immediately backed away and turned to Jean who was still struggling with the door. 

"I've almost got it," Jean said and pulled one final time. The doorknob finally turned and the door opened with a very loud creak. Jean and Rogue gave each other high fives, but their joy wouldn't last for long. As the door was pushed open to it's full extent, the ground started rumbling beneath them. Rocks and pieces of the ceiling quickly started falling around them and formed a barrier between them and the ghostly girl. The girl was still extending her hand and looking at them. The features on her face softened, but Jean and Rogue were still scared of her. 

The floor ricocheted beneath them and started to break apart. "Let's move!" Jean shouted over the loud crashing of debris and rocks around them. With one last glance at the ghostly girl, Jean and Rogue started to make their way out. The young girl smiled and disappeared as quickly as she had come. Just as Jean and Rogue stepped beyond the door, the entire room collapsed behind them. They had no time to see the door close behind them and the light disappear as they realized that there was nothing beyond the door but darkness. Quickly trying to step back, their backs hit the door. The door started to melt away on impact as Jean and Rogue screamed in terror. Everything was covered in darkness as they took a step away from the mysteriously melting door only to find there was nothing there to hold them in place. They fell into nothingness below only leaving their screams echoing behind them. The rain collapsed harder onto the ground and the thunder seemed to rumble in a satisfactory reply. 


	10. Chapter Nine

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Disclaimer: I don't own them. This story is strictly for entertainment and they all belong to Marvel® and Kid's WB. I only own the unfamiliar characters. 

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Author's Note: Hey you guys! I am truly and sincerely sorry for not updating sooner! I have been so busy at school and I got sick for awhile…so I am truly and honestly sorry. Unfortunately, this is the last author's note I will be writing for this story L I know it's sad, especially for me because I've had such great reviewers reading this story! I am putting it to an end…but before I do I want to thank one particular reader and it's Dee Saylors! Thank you for reviewing from the beginning-I'm going to miss getting your reviews! By the way, I must warn you there is a little bit of romance in this chapter, hehe! I just had to put a little more in here! Thanks again and to everyone else who's been reading this story! Oh, and one more thing, for those who have been reading and not reviewing…very bad! After this is an epilogue and if people don't review I will not post it! That's a nice threat because I really need your feedback even though this is coming to an end! I will hopefully be posting it within the next week, that's a promise!! Well, now, enough of my sappy ramblings and on with the show…I hope you enjoy and until next time, bye! Read, Review, and *ENJOY!*

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Anon: Hey, thanks for reviewing again. I think you misunderstood. It's true what I had said and I think you skipped over chapter 7 because I had updated twice. Well, anywho, I'll happily answer your question again. No, unfortunately the Acolytes will not be making an appearance in this story. I'm sorry, but I hope you keep on reading! Thanks and enjoy! 

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Dee Saylors: Thanks for still being such a dedicated reviewer! I know, it's sad this story is coming to an end, but it was fun writing it and I hope you enjoy this chapter. BTW, I'm sorry you had the flu. That's the reason I haven't been able to post this chapter sooner. I've also been super busy with school, it's crazy. Oh, and I'm glad you enjoyed the comment about Kurt being a monk! Hehe, I did that on purpose! Thanks for the always awesome reviews, they really make my day a better one and enjoy! 

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Fright Fest 

By: pinkchick

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Chapter 9

The rain fell harder as it poured itself onto the earth's surface in anger. The night was shrouded in every bit of darkness and the land dripping with wetness. Mud seeped through the ground as the thunder grumbled and the lightning cackled amongst the dampness of the dark night sky. The trees swayed back and forth in response to the howling wind that threw the gust amongst their changing leaves. The crisping and different colored leaves fell into a heap onto the brown earth as the winds picked them up and flung them into the never ending rain. 

People in the cities ran to seek shelter from the mass amount of pouring rain. The rain never stopped. The weeping sky kept bringing down its tears on the town of Bayville as the earth shook from the angry thunder. Inside the Xavier Institute, however, all was well; or so it would seem that way to the untrained eye. 

________________________________________________________________________

As the storm continued to pour itself onto the earth and the sky darkened even more, candles and lanterns lit up every inch of the Xavier Institute. The glowing lights flickered as a soft breeze blew by from an open window. Dark shadows danced and jumped up and down amongst the beautifully elegant brown walls. The soft glow of the flickering candlelight made the surroundings create a calm atmosphere compared to the chaos happening outside. The mansion looked somewhat fresh, no damages whatsoever from previous battles and the like. Fresh smelling paint could be caught in the air. The cooling scent of the crisp autumn breeze blew past the hall. The house was empty. 

Two bedroom lights were on upstairs. A bright candle lit the entire living room area as another gust of soft wind blew in through the open window next to the very elegantly styled fireplace. Newly cut wood sat burning in the orange, yellow, and red glow of the bright fire licking away at it's hinges. Above the delicate fireplace hung a painting. Just a painting. It stood out amongst the wall and the glow of the fire. 

The sudden calmness and peace was suddenly disturbed when an odd looking gray funnel cloud emerged from nowhere. Intensifying screams could be heard as the cloud neared the unscratched marble floor. In a quick flash it dropped three figures. The screams became louder as the wind blew ferociously and the funnel cloud disappeared. For one moment, the screaming subdued and there was silence once again. The three figures looked around at their surroundings strangely and curiously, trying to take in everything that had just happened slowly. 

Scott, Kitty, and Kurt continued to look around. Kurt rubbed his eyes and rolled over onto his stomach, which at that very moment in protest, began to growl. He half expected Kitty to give him a glare, but she was too soaked up in looking around. If they weren't in the predicament that they were in, Kurt would have immediately run into the kitchen and grabbed something to eat. Right now, however, he was too petrified to even think about his growling and starving stomach. Kurt sat up slowly and looked at his two friends with a perplexed and worried expression on his face. What in the world had happened? That was the question on everyone's minds as the three continued to scan the foyer in which they had landed. 

The foyer. _That's odd_, Scott thought. _We were just in another room_. He glanced around the hallway, the main staircase and then at the door. It all looked so familiar, yet, at the same time it just felt different. He moved his right hand up towards his face and checked his glasses just to make sure they were there. Taking a minute to breathe, he thought back to what had happened, what felt to him, like a lifetime ago. The horrendous events played over and over again in his mind. All the mysterious things that he never thought could ever happen were playing over in his mind's eye. Now he had to admit that being a mutant wasn't necessarily something he would have believed before, but ghosts. 

Scott's thoughts again strode back to what he had seen downstairs, but this time something else flooded back. The lone figure of the ghostly girl. Scott shivered as he saw her face in his mind. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt Kitty grasping his shoulder tightly and shaking it. His injured shoulder. Scott let out a painful gasp and clenched his jaw to hold back the pain. His other hand immediately moved towards his shoulder. Kitty quickly removed her hand and muttered an apology. 

Kitty needed something to cling to. She wanted to make sure she was still a living, breathing human being. This was the third time she had wondered what was going on. There were so many unanswered questions and the possibilities of the answers scared her. Maybe, she really didn't want to know the truth. That would make it even worse in her case. Kitty was on the verge of thinking that this entire night would never end and that she, along with Scott and Kurt wouldn't survive the rest of the night. She shook her head quickly and rearranged her thoughts. No, she would not think of things like that. She had to think of more positive things. Things could be worse. The image of the eerie looking girl crept into her thoughts and she brushed it away. Kitty took a deep breath and let it out. She was going to stay calm. 

Out of nowhere, the trio heard a splat of some kind. Kitty once again immediately clung to Scott's shoulder, forgetting all about the injury. He winced under her grip, but didn't say anything to her. He knew she was afraid, and deep down he was too. Kurt moved closer to his friends and took his hand off of his stomach. His head moved back and forth in quick motions. They didn't want to be attacked by some unknown force and not be prepared. Kurt honestly did not want to go through what had happened downstairs again. Walls moving by themselves and people appearing through paintings was not his style at all. 

Screams pierced the still air and Scott, Kitty, and Kurt bolted up from their sitting positions. They stood up, each holding onto the other in an attempt to stay together. The screams abruptly stopped and all they heard was a loud thump on the floor. Kurt's eyes grew wide as his stomach growled yet again. He gave a half smile at the looks that Scott and Kitty had on their faces. Laying a hand on his stomach he gulped back the knot forming in his dry throat. "Did you guys hear zat?" he asked. 

Kitty and Scott also gulped back the knot and fear rising in their throats. They turned to Kurt and nodded their heads in response. The trio honestly didn't want to know what they heard. They just all wanted this night to be done so they could wake up and act like nothing happened. Deep down in their hearts, they knew they would never really forget. Scott, Kitty, and Kurt walked around the foyer in search of the sound. It also seemed as though it was getting brighter and brighter the more they walked around. Kitty bit her lip and clung to both her friends in a death grip. She closed her eyes as her lip quivered in fear. There was no one here, so where would the sound have come from? 

Finding nothing in the foyer they began to walk down one of the halls. The entire time they heard nothing. Nothing but the sounds of their shoes straddling and scraping on the red carpeted floor. As they continued to walk, it seemed as though time slowed down and they were walking for eternity. Walking to absolutely no end, no solution, no world. They all feared they would somehow get stuck in this hellish nightmare and not be able to ever leave. The sun would never find it's way to the horizon. The sky would never stop crying as the thunder grumbled back it's response over and over again. They would never again feel the soft breeze blow on a warm day as the blankets of leaves surrounded them as they walked by. 

Kurt sighed. He wanted to be back in his cozy position on the couch next to his beloved Amanda. He wanted to run his fingers through her hair and hear her laughter. Kurt would have even settled for the fact that Tabitha kept fast forwarding to the "scary parts". It was annoying in a way, but right now he could've cared less. Kurt would give anything to get out of this nightmare. It was probably worse than the time that he had to teleport and those demon looking creatures chased him and Logan. Kurt shuddered at the thought, but the fact was that they were walking down the halls to find the source of the noise that was probably a figment of their imagination anyway. In fact, Kurt didn't even want to know. It was getting him even more terrified. So, he just kept thinking of Amanda and at the sound of his grumbling stomach, he thought of food. How he also would love to eat a big sandwich right about now. Just thinking about it made him hungrier. Kurt kept walking with his friends towards what seemed like no end and sighed once more in retreat. 

Kitty clutched Scott and Kurt's arms so tightly her knuckles were turning white. She knew she was starting to hurt them by the expressions on their faces, but she didn't care. Since they weren't protesting either, she figured it was ok with them. Out of all the things running through her mind right now only one question had been bugging her from the beginning. Why was this happening? Kitty couldn't remember doing something horribly wrong that she'd get punished for it like this. She pondered the thought long and hard. Nope. Nothing came to her. Then, in a sudden flash, the conversation with Kurt in the living room before all this had happened came to her in a whirlwind rush. Why, she didn't even know; but, it was odd. The thought that the ghostly girl had come after them twice already wasn't helping. There was something oddly familiar about the girl. Kitty felt like she knew her, but in a different sense than personal. It felt as though she had been through a lot. Kitty couldn't help but feel sorry and afraid of her at the same time. Shuddering, she wished in her heart that Lance could've been here. Then again, why would he be. Kitty just continued to walk and tried not to think too much about the situation. 

Scott winced as Kitty's nails dug into his skin. She was tugging on his injured arm again. Scott looked at her and gave a half smile at his younger friend. He wouldn't have told her to let go even if he wanted to. He would never think of himself first in a situation like this anyhow. Thoughts trailed through his head like a man on a hike, but through it all he kept his mind trained on Jean. He wished he could see her now and prayed that she was alright. Scott probably figured he would never see her again. They had just gotten together after all these years of hiding his feelings for her and now he wouldn't even get to say goodbye. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her. How he truly felt about her. Scott wanted to tell her that he'd die for her, that he'd do anything in his power to help her, comfort her, and be there for her. He wanted to tell her that he loved her with all his heart. Oh God, he loved her. Scott took a breath. He vowed to himself that if they survived this, he would tell Jean that he loved her. He wasn't going to let anything happen until he's declared it; and he didn't care about going soft in front of the rest of his teammates. All that mattered to Scott was that Jean heard it. 

They finally reached the living room. There was tremendous light pouring out of it. That scared the trio and popped them out of their thoughts and back into the reality that they still couldn't believe. The living room looked tremendously strange. That's not what it had looked like before. It looked somewhat old fashioned in a way. Scott, Kitty, and Kurt widened their eyes in a shocked manner and continued to stare around the extremely unfamiliar room. They were so flabbergasted that they did not notice the two figures lying on the hard marble floor. Scott was the first to realize that they were not alone and ran to the two still figures. He slowly turned them both over and was stunned at what he saw. 

"Jean!?" Scott asked as he wiped away the loose strands on her forehead. She moaned and he took that as a good sign. He rocked her body back and forth as she slowly opened her eyes. He also had one hand on Rogue's body. She was also coming to. 

Kurt and Kitty immediately ran over and assisted her. Rogue opened her eyes and shielded her face from the sudden intensity of light. She didn't know where she was, but somehow she wasn't afraid either. She knew she was amongst the people she knew best. Rogue, with the help of Kitty and Kurt, sat up. She looked around her and then up at her friends. "Wh-where am ah?" she asked. 

"You're in the living room," Kurt supplied and looked around again. "Um, sort of." At seeing Rogue and Jean, some of the fear that had been rising suddenly faded away and he was his usual humorous self. They had finally found some of their other friends. The team was reunited. A heavy wind picked up and blew around them in anger. But, for how long? 

Jean felt strong yet warm arms grip her shoulders gently. She didn't want to open her eyes for fear of what she might find, but the soft and secure hands cupping the side of her face told her that she would not be afraid of what she saw if she did. She heard soft words being whispered and without any fear or doubt, she opened her eyes. At first it was blurry, but then Jean's eyes adjusted and who she saw in front of her was her heaven on earth. Scott was smiling at her and when she completely realized what was going on, he had taken her in a warm embrace. "I love you, Jean," Scott whispered into her ear. Jean smiled at those words and how she was longing to hear them for the longest time. "I love you too, Scott." 

Jean sat up and looked around at everything and everyone. First she spotted Rogue who, thankfully, was unhurt and awake. Then she looked at Scott again. She couldn't help but smile after everything that had happened. He had such a soft and loving expression on his face. At that, she wrapped her arms around him and before everyone knew it, the entire group was in a big group hug. They were so happy to be with each other again. They all whispered words of comfort to the other and simultaneously forgot where they were in the glimpse of time. They were together at last. A team. If they were together, everything was okay. Or so they thought. 

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The rain continued to pour it's heart out onto the now muddy ruins of soil. It encased all of it's energy in the enlarged drops of rain that were splashing down and making a rolling river path. In the dark of the night only one lone figure stood across from the flourishly lit mansion. Though it seemed heavily weighted, the black shadow floated with grace as though it had been the same size all it's life. Or, rather, eternity. Things were going according to plan. It could not wait to get it's black body around some flesh. It was what the black shadow lived for. Killing. The black figure enjoyed that part of the job to the full extent, for it was only on Halloween that it got it's chance to kill. Slowly seeing that the X-men had been united with each other, it inched closer to the living room's window. This was going to be quite interesting. Quite interesting indeed. 

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The lights in the living room began to flicker all of a sudden. Everybody stopped their quick reunion and looked around the empty room. The fire in the fireplace was still burning strong, as though someone was fueling it instead of the firewood clinging to the flames. A howling breeze blew from the open window near the fireplace. The candles flickered on and off as the X-men's shadows halted and they screamed. They started to move back slowly. Away from all that was happening. They were about to run out when Kitty abruptly stopped in her tracks and turned to the look at the fireplace. Curiosity approaching all of them, they followed her. 

Kitty narrowed her eyes and then widened them. This was not happening. She couldn't believe what she was seeing in front of her. Everyone looked at her worriedly. "Keety, vat's wrong?!" Kurt asked her as he clung to her arm and shook her. Kitty swallowed and pointed to the painting above the fireplace. Scott and Kurt were the first to gulp back the fear settling in from the pits of their stomachs. It couldn't, be could it? Unfortunately, it was. The nightmare was reliving itself all over again. The painting that hung on the wall was the same one Scott, Kitty, and Kurt had seen in the room they had just been in. Only this time, to their disbelief, it looked brand new. 

At first, Jean and Rogue were puzzled as they stared at Kitty and then at the painting. What in the world was scaring their friends so much? It was just a painting after all. Paintings never harmed anyone, did they? They both peered at it closer and froze in place. The painting somehow had Jean and Rogue painted in it. It also had Scott, Kurt, and Kitty, all in younger, old fashioned versions. That couldn't be, it was dated back to 1703. They didn't have time to ponder any of the new events because a strong and manly voice interrupted everyone's thoughts and they turned around. 

"Katherine, you don't really believe in those dead spirits now do you?" a male voice asked. 

"Of course not, father," a young girl's voice answered. "It's not like they're any from of reality."

The X-men just stared at what was going on in shock. Who were these people? What were they doing here and why were they dressed like this? Everyone looked at the young girl and then at the older man. Kurt walked up to them and waved his hand in their faces, but they were completely oblivious to him. "Hel-lo," he said. They ignored him and just kept on talking as if he wasn't there. "Man, these people are blind!" 

Kitty gasped as she looked at the people in front of her and back at the painting. "What is it, Kitty?" Scott asked her. "Is something wrong?" 

"You guys, I know who those people are," Kitty responded. 

"I vas starting to vonder vhy they looked so familiar." Kurt hit his forehead with his hand. They all looked at him with their eyebrows raised and he stopped. 

Kitty pointed her hand to the painting again and everyone gasped. It was true. The young girl and her father were the people from the painting. The scene that had taken place so long ago was somehow replaying itself right in front of their eyes. "So, what're you saying, we're in 1703?" Jean asked. 

Kitty didn't know what to say to that. She didn't really believe it. Or did she? A new set of voices interrupted her thoughts. They were the girls who looked like Jean and Rogue. They walked into the living room. This was all so odd. Why was this happening and what did they have to do with it? The entire scene continued as two boys walked in wearing white satin sheets over their heads. The X-men just continued to encounter everything like they were watching some kind of movie and helpless to stop anything that was happening. It was like a bad dream. Out of nowhere, the young brown haired girl screamed and the next thing the X-men saw was that she was dead on the floor. It was like she was killed by some kind of unseen force. They were definitely in 1703. Then all of a sudden, as if an ending to a show, the lights went off. 

When the lights came back, the black shadow figure was standing near the window. Everyone from 1703 was gone now and it was a showdown between the figure and the X-men. The quintet moved backward. They were all shaking with fear. They knew their powers couldn't get them out of this one and the fact that they were also confused of this entire situation was not helping at all. They all held each other's hands tightly as they ran towards the exit. Unfortunately when they reached it, it was blocked by a transparent barrier. This was not good. Where were they supposed to go now? They were being blocked on both sides. The window was being covered by the black shadow's enormous body. 

Scott immediately scanned the situation over and narrowed his eyes at the black figure. The black shadow seemed to see it and looked like it narrowed it's eyes back also. Although it was faceless, it still scared Scott. Nobody could see his eyes, how did the figure know what he was doing? He shook his head. It didn't really matter now anyway. He moved his hand back behind him. "Everyone get behind me. Now!" Scott ordered. Fortunately, no one protested and he was thankful. He was once and for all going to get rid of this figure and he prayed that his beams still worked. Before he could even lift his glasses though, the black figure quickly moved forward and multiplied. Everyone widened their eyes and held back a gasp of surprise and fear. The new black figures that stood looked nothing like the main one. In fact, they looked oddly familiar. It was as if they knew them somehow. 

There were nine of them and they were all shaped differently. As they neared them, the group of shadows looked more like an army ready to fight a war. Kurt was the first to realize who they were, although they were not in their regular forms. Kurt moved away from his friends and practically jumped towards one of the figures. "Amanda!" he screamed. Before he could head towards what he thought was Amanda, Rogue stopped him. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. "Kurt, don't." 

"Vat do you mean?" Kurt asked, with a happy and fearful expression on his face. "Zat's Amanda, Rogue. I have to go to her." 

"Kurt, that's not Amanda. Look at them. They're just shadows, not our friends." Rogue pointed to the figures that were still approaching slowly. It was true, their friends were nothing but lifeless shadows. Kurt, along with everyone else, eyed them all closely. So many things whirled around in their heads at what they were seeing. No, it was not possible. They must've been imagining things. But the more the shadows advanced closer, the more evident it became. The nine shadow creatures were their friends. "Oh my God," Jean whispered. "This can't be happening." 

"We have to get to that window," Scott told them as he slowly formulated a plan in his head. "It's our only way out." They all nodded with their heads. Scott began counting to three and on three they would run around, through, or fight to get to their destination. "GO!" Scott shouted. They all began to run quickly and the figures followed them. 

Amanda's shadow chased after Kurt and he screamed as she gained speed. "Amanda! Vhy are you doing this?" Kurt asked. 'Amanda' didn't respond, she just kept advancing. Tabitha's shadow leapt in to help her. Kurt was slowly being drowned out in a black pool of nothingness as they surrounded him. His screams attempted to hang onto something and then letting go and falling until it was no longer there. 

Rogue leapt over the fancy looking couch and ran as fast as she could go. The shadows of Bobby and Ray followed suit. Rogue let out a scream and began to move faster. The shadows also gained speed. She looked ahead of her as sweat trickled her brow. Yes, she was only a couple of feet away from the window. One more step and she could…No, Bobby and Ray wrapped around her and were attempting to suck the air out of her lungs. The last thing she remembered was that her scream just became a muffled sound amongst the black abyss. 

Jean was running the fastest she had ever run in her entire life. Her long legs swept across the rug as she tried to reach the large brown window. It was getting closer and closer, and she could feel her heart beating faster and faster the closer she inched towards it. The shadows of Roberto and Jamie dashed across the rug after her, excelling in speed. Jean ran with more determination. She was not going to let them win. Unfortunately, Jean didn't see the rug flipped upwards on the other end as she slipped and fell. The shadows of what were supposed to be friends warped around her and created a black four sided wall around her. With that, Jean's screams became only a low hum as they disappeared. 

Scott ran and ran. There was no telling what the shadows were up to. He had to get to that window and quickly. A brush of hope graced his mind as he saw the large window approaching. He felt the freedom and wind rushing towards him as he neared and ran faster. Amara and Sam's shadows also ran faster and caught up to him eventually. Scott reached for the window only to have his hand swipe through a whirlpool of black. The darkness plagued him as his screams began to subside slowly, until there was nothing left of it at all. 

Kitty ran across the living room floor with all her might. Lance was at her heels the entire time. For a moment she couldn't understand what he was doing here to begin with. He hadn't been there in the beginning of the night. Of course, she had disappeared and not known what had been going on the entire time. "Lance!" she shouted. "Please, stop it! Remember me, Lance. It's me Kitty!" She pleaded to him, but the shadow of Lance didn't seem to hear her. He just kept chasing after her. Kitty reached the window and turned around abruptly without thinking. Lance was an inch from her and was about to swallow her up. Kitty closed her eyes and waited for her end…but it never came. She opened her eyes and Lance suddenly disappeared into thin air. Slowly, she looked around the room and noticed there was no one there. Everyone had disappeared. 

Kitty's heart leapt into her throat and began shaking all over. She was all alone now. Deserted. No one would hear her screams when her life came to an end. No one would care. Her friends were gone and in a second she would be too. She couldn't imagine that this was happening. Not to her, at least. Ghosts, spirits, and other types of life forms didn't really exist did they? Would she wake up and find that this was all a dream? Kitty slid into a sitting position beneath the window. She was so riled up in her own fear that she had forgotten about the escape attempt. The candlelight flickered back and forth as the room seemed to get darker slowly. 

Kitty hugged her knees and closed her eyes as unshed tears started to formulate within them. There was a sudden noise from in front of her. Kitty's head immediately shot up and she looked around the room. It was dim, but she could make out something, or someone, standing a couple of feet away from her. Kitty regained her composure as she sucked down her fear and built up renown confidence. She had to do this, for her and her friends. The figure moved closer. It was the ghostly girl. But, this time she was not in any way eerie looking. Instead, in the dim light she looked radiant. Her white gown swished around her small frame as she slowly approached Kitty. Her blue eyes glowed in the candlelight and her brown curly hair swayed about her shoulders. Kitty finally came to a realization. The ghostly girl had been the girl in the painting all along. The dead spirit of Katherine Xavier was standing right in front of her. 

Kitty stood up slowly. She swallowed the lump in her throat and walked forward until she was staring into the eyes of her look alike. "Wh-where are m-my friends?" Kitty asked as her hands became fists. "What do you want from me? Why are you doing this? Huh? Why?" she shouted. 

Katherine just continued looking at her strangely and tilted her head. "Answer me!" Kitty yelled at the top of her lungs. "I-I haven't done anything! _Why_ are you _doing _this?" 

For the first time since the entire fiasco had begun, the young girl spoke. Her voice quivered a little, but then she just showed determination in her eyes. "You need to believe, Kitty." 

"What are you, like, talking about?" Kitty questioned. 

"You need to believe or it will come after you," Katherine responded. 

"Believe in what?" Kitty questioned her again. She had a very determined look on her face. She needed some answers and she was going to get them. 

"Spirits, Kitty," Katherine answered. "I have come to warn you. You need to let yourself believe or else _it _will come for you."

"Who's _it_, anyways?" Kitty asked, still puzzled. "Spirits aren't real. How can I believe in them?" 

Katherine smiled at that comment. She pointed to herself and shook her head. "I am real, am I not?" 

Kitty just nodded, no words escaping her mouth. Katherine reached out her hand towards Kitty's shoulder. Kitty moved her shoulder quickly, but then let the young girl touch her. For someone so young, she spoke beyond her years, as if through experience. Kitty closed her eyes as thoughts of Katherine's final moments rushed through her. She opened her eyes and understood. Katherine removed her hand and backed away. "Just believe, Kitty. Everything will be alright, I promise. I am always watching." Katherine kept moving back as she spoke and white light surrounded her. In a matter of seconds she disappeared into nothingness. Kitty reached her hand out to where she had been standing. 

"Wait! You didn't answer my question," Kitty said. "Who's _it_?" 

As if on cue, the black shadow figure appeared once again. Kitty turned back towards it and let the fear that had left her come back to haunt her body once again. This time, however, she felt renewed. She could fight this thing. Kitty would fight it if it was the last thing she did. The black shadow moved closer much quicker than it had before. Kitty glanced at it closely and realized that it was not enlarged anymore. It was the same size that it had been in the very beginning. This scared Kitty. Her body tensed and she felt her fingers numb. But, it wasn't because of the fear. She felt powerful and confident in herself. She was going to win. Kitty narrowed her eyes and the black shadow disappeared. 

Kitty was confused. Where did it go? The answer to the question was behind her. The black shadow appeared and wrapped itself around her neck slowly, sucking the life force out of her. The non believers would pay. They would rot. The wind rushed out of Kitty's lungs as she began choking. She tried to grasp the shadow, but her hands felt around and there was nothing there. Nothing at all. It was like it was invisible. The rain outside poured down harder and shook the trees. Kitty gasped for breath. The black shadow tightened it's hold on her neck and let it snake around her to whisper in her ear. "Do you know what happens to non believers, my dear?" 

Kitty could feel her eyesight getting blurry. The candles began to fade away and Kitty was beginning to lose hope until another wave of confidence hit her and she remembered Katherine. _Just believe, Kitty. Everything will be alright, I promise. Just believe. _That's all Kitty had to do. Believe. Kitty gulped down a breath of air and spoke hoarsely because of the still tight grip of the shadow around her neck. "No," Kitty replied dryly, "and do you know why?" She suddenly felt the black shadow tighten, but she kept her confidence. "I believe." The black shadow began losing it's hold on her. It was slipping. These were not the words it wanted to hear. 

"I believe, Katherine! I BELIEVE!" Kitty shouted hoarsely as she felt the black shadow loosen it's hold completely on her neck. Kitty took in a much needed breath of air. The black shadow backed away and Kitty turned around to glare at it. She held her hand to her neck and narrowed her eyes. She saw it start to disappear into the air. Kitty smiled and stood up. The black shadow growled and let out an agonizing cry of pain before it completely vanished. That's when the entire world came crashing down. 

Kitty looked around her and outside. The thunder cackled and the wind howled. The rain splattered the surface of the earth as the candles' lights dimmed out completely and the entire room warped into darkness. Kitty heard herself scream before everything clouded over and she fell into the engulfing black sea around her. 

________________________________________________________________________ 


	11. Epilogue

****

Epilogue

The rain outside slowed down and became nothing but a dripping sound coming from a sink. It sounded hollow. Kitty Pryde did not want to open her eyes for fear of what she would see. Around her though, she heard gasps and a slight shriek from what sounded like many people crowded together in one room at the same time. She automatically remembered what had happened before and Katherine. She shuddered but then smiled. She had somehow survived it, but a twinge of fear caught in her throat when she remembered that all her friends were gone. Slowly, she opened her eyes. It was pitch black and she was sitting in some kind of chair. 

"Great, there goes the night, guys!" Tabitha groaned. 

Kitty smiled at Tabitha through the darkness and shook her head. Only she would have the nerve to complain. Wait, Tabitha? What was going on? Kitty looked around the room, but she couldn't see anything. She prayed silently that it wasn't a repeat of what had happened earlier, but somehow she felt that it was better. She heard the shuffling of bodies before all of a sudden a great light engulfed the entire living room. Kitty's head swerved around the entire area and realized that she was in the living room. It hadn't been a dream, had it? It couldn't have been, she thought. 

Kitty caught sight of Scott, settling back down next to Jean on the couch. Everyone seemed to be acting normal, as if nothing had happened at all. Tabitha was still fast forwarding through the movie they had been watching. She also noticed out of the corner of her eye that Ray, Bobby, and Sam had stopped their attempt at sneaking away and sat back down after a glare from Scott. Kitty turned to look at all her teammates. There seemed to be a feeling of uneasiness. Scott didn't know why, but he got up and went to the window next to Kitty. He made sure it was secured tightly as the rain outside had stopped completely. Kitty noticed that Scott's shoulder was uninjured as it had been. Lance was nowhere in sight as well. She breathed a sigh of relief and settled back to read the magazine in her hand. The things that had been permeating in her mind were, for some reason, slowly vanishing. Wiped clean, to start anew. 

Scott slowly gave her a relieved smile. Everything was going to be alright. They would talk about it later, or maybe just leave it and never mention it again. Thank goodness, it was all over! Kurt sat on the couch with Amanda and just stared at the fast moving screen. He didn't care anymore, he was safe with Amanda and all of his friends. He hugged her tightly and gave her his usual smile. 

"What was that for?" Amanda asked. 

"Nothing. I just vanted to make sure you vere really vith me," Kurt explained. He smiled again and Amanda looked at him strangely. It was a good thing no one else remembered anything. It was good to be back. Kurt felt something tickle the back of his mind as he shook his head. Suddenly, all that had been there was an emptiness filled with new thoughts. With that, Kurt dove his hand into the popcorn bowl as everyone yelled at him for hogging all of the food. Oh yes, things were definitely back to normal. 

Rogue moved in closer to her friends. She didn't feel like sitting in the back all by herself. She felt that she wanted to be afraid, but something inside told her that it was all going to be ok. So, Rogue blew off every thought of what had been haunting her, as if it had been a dream and relaxed. She even sat down to watch the movie next to Kurt and Amanda. Looking over at her brother, she smiled and he smiled his fanged smile back. Things were alright.

Scott and Jean inched closer together. It could be said that the petrifying experience brought them all closer together. Scott made a note in his mind to ask the professor about the 'other' lower levels later, but in a split second, it slipped his mind. He couldn't even remember what it looked like anymore; it was as though it hadn't even existed. Maybe it hadn't either. Jean looked up at him and smiled. Scott shrugged it off as he kissed the top of her head and nestled back into the couch. He looked around one last time and realized that his mind was missing something. Jean must've felt it too and they looked at each other. A second later, it was gone and they decided it was something unexplainable. Everything was ok again, and Scott suddenly felt the need to reveal his feelings for Jean; it seemed important for some reason. Everything was ok after all. 

Kitty couldn't help looking out the window every once in awhile. Something drew her to it, but why, she didn't know. Deep down she knew it was awkward, but her mind about this whole Halloween thing was slowly changing. It was definitely an odd situation, but she just shrugged it off. At the sound of her name, Kitty turned towards the voice. It was Amara, asking her to join them in watching the movie. 

Kitty looked outside at the night sky that was finally being lit by the half hidden moon. She put her magazine down and walked over to the couch in front of the television. "Why not!?" She smiled. Kitty pushed Kurt over and sat down. He practically choked on his popcorn as she took the remote from Tabitha and hit the play button. She turned to him and laughed at his surprised face. 

"What's, like, wrong with you?" Kitty asked him, popping him out of frozen expression. 

"I thought you didn't like Halloveen!" Kurt exclaimed. "You told me you didn't believe in spirits." 

"Kurt! Of course I, like, believe in spirits," Kitty mocked his shock. "Otherwise, what would be, like, the point of Halloween?!" She smiled and turned to watch the movie. Kurt continued to stare at her awkwardly until he was nudged by Amanda and returned to watching the movie. Kitty closed her eyes and couldn't figure out what had changed her mind. It didn't matter anyway. She knew that deep down some kind of spirit was watching her and that fact made her think Halloween wasn't such a bad holiday after all. 

________________________________________________________________________

Outside of the window, high above the mansion, stood a young girl in a white gown. Katherine Xavier smiled. Her job here was done and she had been successful. Now, at last, she could finally rest in peace with her family. They had been waiting for her for so long. It was finally time to go. She looked around one last time. The rain had finally subsided and the moon was coming out from behind the storm clouds. She smiled. Now, everything would finally be ok. 

"Katherine?" a male voice asked. "Are you coming, my dear?" 

Katherine looked over at her father. He was standing there in all his glory a couple of feet from her near a white gate. She smiled at him as she also watched her four siblings walk over with him. "Yes, father. I'm coming."

With one final glance at the mansion, she walked over to her family. Her father wrapped his arms around her as they walked together towards the white gates and disappeared into the night sky. The storm clouds disappeared and light filtered through the ever changing leaves. The wind stopped howling and rested it's voice. The thunder made peace with the earth and inside the Xavier Institute, all was well. The moon cast it's white light above the house and with it's round face, smiled in satisfaction. 


End file.
